Peter Spencer (1782–1843) was an American freedman who in 1813 founded the Union Church of Africans in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington (Unami language, Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North ...

. The denomination is now known as the African Union First Colored Methodist Protestant Church and Connection, or A.U.M.P. Church for short.http://www.augustquarterly.org/peterspencer.html Born into slavery in 1782 in

Kent County, Maryland Kent County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, its population was 19,198, making it the least populous county in Maryland. Its county seat is Chestertown. The county was named for the county of Kent in E ...

, Spencer was freed after his master died, by the terms of his will. Spencer moved north to Wilmington, which had a large free black population. He contributed to the development of the free Africa-American community in this city. There he founded the Union Church of Africans in 1813. (This followed the 1793 establishment in Philadelphia of the

African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a predominantly African American Methodist denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexional polity. The African Methodist Episcopal ...

by Richard Allen, which was the first independent black church. It had ties to the Methodist Episcopal Church until 1816, when several congregations formed it as a denomination, electing Allen as bishop. In 1814, Spencer called for the first annual gathering of the Union Church, an event now known as the Big August Quarterly. This has drawn members of this denomination and their descendants together in an annual religious and cultural festival, which continues to be held in the early 21st century.

Thomas Garrett Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

, a Quaker in Wilmington who was an abolitionist and active in the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. ...

as a “conductor” of refugee slaves, helped Spencer buy land to build the Mother Church on French Street in Wilmington. Over the course of his lifetime, Spencer began 31 churches, nearly all of them with schools. He became known as the “father of the independent black church movement.”"August Quarterly honors Peter Spencer"
''Delaware Online'', 29 May 2012

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1920, at ''Documenting the American South'', University of North Carolina * 1782 births 1843 deaths American Methodist bishops American religious leaders Clergy of historically African-American Christian denominations {{US-reli-bio-stub