Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church is located in

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids () is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County, Iowa, Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River (Iowa River), Cedar River, north of Iowa City, Iowa, Iowa City and north ...

, United States. The congregation was established in either 1870 or 1871, which makes this the oldest historically

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

church in the city. It had 23 pastors from its inception to 1928, which followed the

African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Black church, predominantly African American Methodist Religious denomination, denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexionalism, c ...

's practice of itinerant pastors. The congregation grew slowly over this same period. Many African Americans came to Cedar Rapids after the coal industry in Southern Iowa began to collapse. The Rev. Benjamin Horace Lucas, who became pastor here in 1928, was also a catalyst for growth in the congregation. Completed in 1931, this brick

Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archi ...

structure replaced a wood-frame structure from 1876. Since its completion, it has served the social and religious needs of the community. It is one of the few surviving links to Cedar Rapid's early African American community as this neighborhood has been nearly obliterated by the development of Mercy Medical Center. The church building was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2013.

References

Churches completed in 1931 African Methodist Episcopal churches in Iowa Churches in Cedar Rapids, Iowa African-American history of Iowa Colonial Revival architecture in Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Cedar Rapids, Iowa Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa {{LinnCountyIA-NRHP-stub

See also

References