African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (A.M.E. Zion) is a Protestant religious denomination. It was formed in 1796 by a group of African Americans who withdrew from the John Street Methodist Episcopal Church in New York City. Many leaders of the movement in the 1800’s to abolish slavery were members of the A.M.E. Zion Church, including Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, and Frederick Douglass.
The General Conference, Board of Bishops, and a number of general officers or department heads administer the A.M.E. Zion. The General Conference meets every four years to set the business agenda and budget for the church. Bishops oversee the entire A.M.E. Zion as a board, and they individually lead separate episcopal districts (geographical divisions). General officers, each responsible to the Conference and a bishop, provide resources and services for A.M.E. Zion congregations. The church operates Livingstone College and Hood Theological Seminary in Salisbury, North Carolina, as well as two junior colleges, A.M.E. Zion University in Liberia, and Hood Speaks Theological Seminary in Nigeria.
