Community Celebration and Remembrance ‪#‎Bethel‬ African Methodist Episcopal Church of Indianapolis

If your ancestors worshiped at a particular church, have you documented that church and how long they were members? See below for information on historic Bethel AME in Indianapolis. If your ancestors worshiped their this might be a good time to visit and take pictures before it is sold.

Experience ‪#‎BlackHistory‬: Community Celebration and Remembrance ‪#‎Bethel‬ African Methodist Episcopal Church of Indianapolis
414 W Vermont St, Indianapolis, IN 46202
July 24, 2016 – Time: 12pm to 3pm

The event is a collaboration between the Bethel AME Congregation and the IUPUI’s JustIndy: Tracing Race and Place Project.
On July 24, the greater Indianapolis community is invited to join in the celebration of the physical place that is currently home to the oldest African American congregation in the city. The congregation is relocating and starting a new chapter in its long life.
Bethel, the oldest African American church in the city of Indianapolis, founded in 1836, was once a vital part of a thriving African American community located in the heart of the erstwhile Indiana Avenue Jazz District. Over its 180 years of existence, the Bethel AME Church has played a vital role in the Underground Railroad, the founding of the NAACP in Indiana, the founding of the first formal School for Black children in Indianapolis, and the development of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States.
The church building and the property are in the process of being sold.
Transition and change are a part of any vital society but so is honoring and remembering those that have made those changes possible.
Visit the sanctuary, see and hear the A. B. Felgemaker Co., Opus 878, 1905, one of a kind organ, and take photos, share stories, and participate in this historical moment. At 1pm, Joyce Moore from the Urban Patch will speak on the importance of communities using their histories to enrich their futures. For more information, please contact Kisha Tandy, KTandy@Indianamuseum.org and Andrea Copeland, ajapzon@iupui.edu