Transfer of Church Membership
Item
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Title
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Transfer of Church Membership
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Description
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This “Notice of Enrollment” certification authorizes the transfer of membership of Sister Sarah Loapman from the Macedonia African Methodist Episcopal Church in Camden, NJ to the Bethel African Methodist Church in Philadelphia, PA on March 19, 1917.
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Transfer letters were given to Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal members when they moved from church to church.
The Macedonia African Methodist Episcopal Church was founded in 1832 in Camden, NJ as the city’s first and oldest African American institution on what is the “oldest parcel of real estate continuously owned by African Americans in the city” (Historic Macedonia African Methodist Episcopal Church, n.d.). The original church structure burnt down in 1837, was rebuilt in 1838 at 261 Spruce Street, and had a much-needed expansion in 1850 (Historic Macedonia African Methodist Episcopal Church, n.d.).
While there is no mention of Rev. F. B. Cox on the Macedonia AME Church website, it is likely that he was not a lead clergy member, rather perhaps someone who took care of paperwork such as this transfer (Historic Macedonia African Methodist Episcopal Church, n.d.).
The Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church is located at 419 South 6th Street, between Washington Square Park and South Street in the Society Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia. The land is the “oldest parcel of land continuously owned by African Americans in the United States” (Historical Society of Pennsylvania, n.d.). Initially there were three smaller church buildings on the property, until the present-day church building was erected in 1889 (Historical Society of Pennsylvania, n.d.). The original name of the church was Bethel Church, however Mother was added to indicate that the AME denomination originated there (Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church 2025a). The church was a sanctuary on the Underground Railroad in the mid-1800s, and continued to support former slaves post-Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 (Historical Society of Pennsylvania, n.d; Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church 2025a).
At the time of Sister Sarah Loapman’s transfer to Mother Bethel AME in 1917, the Pastor was Rober J. Williams who served from 1916-1920 (Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church 2025b).
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Map to the Macedonia AME Church address
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Map to the Mother Bethel AME Church address
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Rights
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This work is believed to be in the Public Domain under the laws of the United States. For more information, see http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/
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Creator
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W.F.Coffey, Pastor
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Format
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Text
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Language
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eng
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Spatial Coverage
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Philadelphia, PA
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Contributor
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Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church
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Identifier
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IX. Certifications
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Date Created
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1917
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Subject
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Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church (Philadelphia, Pa.)
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Philadelphia (Pa.)
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Churches, African American
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Camden (N.J.)
