Propiedad industrial e incubación de empresas

The harassment on the side of the St. George’s Methodist Church made the AME Church aware of the importance to further extend its boundaries. Allen and his

followers embarked on a missionary programme. Congregations were established in Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Newport, New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia and the eastern shores of Maryland (cf Campbell 1989: 13). In 1818 Morris Brown went to Charleston, South Carolina, and in less than a year organised a congregation with 1,848 members (cf Coan 1987: 9). Campbell (1989) notes that the AME Church grew so rapidly that by 1880 it had sixty three congregations and more than hundred thousand members in Georgia alone. By then the total members of the AME Church stood at more than half a million. He further comments that by the opening of the twentieth century, it had become, in the words of WEB DuBois, “the greatest Negro institution in the world” (Campbell 1989: 41).

With the rapid growth of the church it became evident that a bishop should be elected to oversee the work of the church. Singleton (1985: 22) remarks that Daniel Coker was elected in 1819 as the first bishop, but resigned in favour of Richard Allen whose efforts to organise and expand the church he felt weighed much heavier than his own.

Richard Allen was then consecrated as bishop with the imposition of the hands of five ordained ministers.

As the church membership grew it became evident that due to vast distances the church had to be divided into Episcopal Districts. For this purpose, more bishops were needed. Morris Brown was elected a bishop in 1828 to assist Richard Allen in his work until Allen’s death in 1831 (cf Wright 1963: 116).

In 1841 William Paul Quinn was appointed as assistant to Bishop Morris Brown. His impressive report at General Conference of 1844 for the states of Ohio secured his election as bishop. He reported the establishment of 47 new churches, 1080 members and 72 congregations (cf Wright 1963: 284). The first General Conference held in New York in 1852 elected both Willis Nazrey and Daniel Payne as bishops. It was at this General Conference that the church was divided into three Episcopal Districts.

Bishop Brown was assigned to the 1^st Episcopal District consisted of Philadelphia and New England Conferences. Bishop Quinn was assigned to the 2^nd Episcopal District of the Baltimore and New York Annual Conferences and bishop Nazrey to the 3^rd Episcopal District comprising of the Indiana and Canadian Annual Conferences. At this General Conference bishop Daniel Payne was entrusted with the ecumenical and

educational affairs of the church. These bishops also formed the Bishops Council where decisions were made on behalf of the church in the interim of the General Conference which was conducted every four years (cf Wright 1963: 258).

Currently the 1^st Episcopal District comprises of the Philadelphia-, New Jersey-, New York-, Western New York-, New England- Delaware- and Bermuda Annual Conferences. The membership for the First Episcopal District is approximately 159 000. The Baltimore-, Washington-, Virginia-, North Carolina- and West Carolina form the 2^nd Episcopal District with a total membership of approximately 101 648, whilst the 3^rd Episcopal District consists of the Ohio-, North Ohio-, South Ohio-, Pittsburgh- and West Virginia Conferences with a membership of approximately 90 000.

Many congregations were established as the church became more and more stabilised.

This resulted in the election of bishops at almost every General Conference after 1852. Episcopal boundaries constantly changed due to the missionary expansions. The church also had the responsibility to secure Episcopal Districts for the newly elected bishops. Bishop Thomas Ward established churches and organised Annual Conferences in North Georgia in 1874, Arkansas in 1876, Southeast Texas and Oklahoma in 1879, Missouri in 1882 and South Kansas in 1883. All bishops elected after Thomas Ward were assigned with the same responsibility of extending the church (cf Wright 1936: 351).

Since limited data is available it is almost impossible to determine the exact dates when the various Episcopal Districts were formed. Furthermore, as the church grew, the Episcopal District boundaries constantly changed.

The 4^th Episcopal District was organised at the 1872 General Conference, which consisted of the Illinois-, Indiana-, Missouri- and California Annual Conference.

Presently this District comprises of Indiana, Chicago, Illinois, Michigan and Canada with a membership of approximately 116 000 members.

Three Episcopal Districts were added to the church at the General Conference of 1888. The 5^th Episcopal District then consists of Kentucky- and Tennessee

Conferences, the 6^th Episcopal District comprised the South Carolina- and Georgia Conferences and the 7^th Episcopal District was made up of the Alabama-, North Alabama- and Florida Conferences. The estimated membership currently for the 5^th Episcopal District is 95 510, which consists of the Missouri-, Kansas-Nebraska-, Desert/Mountain-, Northwest Missouri-, California-, Southern California- and Pacific Northwest Annual Conferences. Presently the 6^th Episcopal District comprises the Georgia-, Southwest Georgia-, Atlanta-North-, Macon-, South Georgia- and Augusta Annual Conferences with a membership of 137 000. The Palmetto-, South Carolina-, Columbia-, Piedmont-, Northeast-, South Carolina- and Central South Carolina form the 7^th Episcopal District with a membership of approximately 135 000.

The General Conference of 1884 added two more Episcopal Districts to the church.

The 8^th Episcopal District consisted of Mississippi, Arkansas and Indiana and the Ninth of the entire Texas State. Currently the 8^th Episcopal District comprises of the Mississippi-, East Mississippi-, Northeast-West Mississippi-, Central North Mississippi-, North Louisiana-, Central Louisiana- and the Louisiana Conferences with a membership of approximately 94 000. The 9^th Episcopal District included the Alabama-, North Alabama- Central Alabama-, East Alabama-, South Alabama- and West Alabama Annual Conferences with a membership in the region of 92 000.

At the General Conference held in 1888 another two Episcopal Districts were added.

The 10^th Episcopal District consisted of all the Annual Conferences in the states of Kentucky and Tennessee. Presently the 10^th Episcopal District comprises of the Texas-, North Texas-, Northwest Texas- and Southeast Texas Annual Conference.

This District has approximately 90 000 members. The 11^th Episcopal District was formed by the Ontario-, Nova Scotia- and Bermuda Annual Conferences. Currently the 11^th Episcopal District comprises of the Florida-, Central Florida-, West Florida-, East Florida- and the Bahamas Annual Conference with a membership of 149 000.

The General Conference of 1892 introduced the 12^th Episcopal District with the same Annual Conferences which formed part of the 11^th Episcopal District and located all Annual Conferences in Florida under the 11^th Episcopal District (cf Wright 1936: 324- 337). Currently the 12^th Episcopal District consists of the Oklahoma-, Central Oklahoma-, Arkansas-, West Arkansas-, Central Arkansas-, East Northwest Arkansas-

and South Arkansas Annual Conferences. The membership for this Episcopal District is estimated at 101 000.

At the 1900 General Conference another switch in boundaries was made with the introduction of the 13^th Episcopal District. The Tennessee-, East Tennessee-, Kentucky- and West Kentucky Annual Conferences were placed under the jurisdiction of this Episcopal District. The same Annual Conferences are currently part of the 13^th with a membership of approximately 91 000.

With the official organisation of the church in South America and West Africa between 1896 and 1900, these Annual Conferences were placed under the jurisdiction of the 3^rd Episcopal District (cf Wright 1963: 156).

Although the church expanded its boundaries to West Africa with the formation of the Liberian Conference in 1878, this Conference remained a part of the 3^rd Episcopal District until 1908 when the General Conference elected William Heard as bishop for West Africa (cf Gregg 1980: 54). During Heard’s four year term as bishop of West Africa, the church did not formally organise an Episcopal District for this area (cf Wright 1963: 219).

As in the case with the church in North America, Episcopal Districts in Africa constantly changed. When Levi Coppin was elected bishop at the General Conference of 1900, he was appointed to the 14^th Episcopal District which comprised of South Africa. With further expansions in Africa, the South African Annual Conferences were changed to the 17^th Episcopal District including Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and Basotuland (now Lesotho) in 1928. In 1948 the 14^th Episcopal District was again changed, this time to the 15^th Episcopal District which comprised of the Republic of South Africa. In 1952 Lesotho and South West Africa (now Namibia) were added to the 15^th Episcopal District. In 1962 Lesotho was released from the 15^th Episcopal District and in 1984 the 15^th Episcopal District was divided into two Districts, namely the 15^th and 19^th Episcopal Districts respectively (cf Minutes of the General Conference of 1984).

As the church grew in Africa, Episcopal Districts stabilised. The 14^th Episcopal District was formally established in 1920 with the Liberian- and Sierra Leone Annual Conferences. Currently the 14^th Episcopal District consists of the Sierra Leone-, Liberia-, Ghana-, Nigeria-, Cote D’Ivoire- and Togo-Benin Annual Conferences with a total membership of 25 600.

The boundaries of the 15^th Episcopal District were finally established in 1984 with the Cape-, Namibia-, Kalahari-, Eastern Cape- and Queenstown Annual Conferences. In 1995 more than 12 000 members from the Independent Methodist Church in Angola joined the AME Church and were added to the 15^th Episcopal District (cf Centennial Journal of the AME Church in Southern Africa 1996: 24). The current membership of the 15^th Episcopal District is approximately 56 694.

Although the 16^th Episcopal District is not located in Africa, it forms part of the Districts outside of the borders of the USA. All Episcopal Districts outside of the borders of the USA are currently under the jurisdiction of the Global Development Council.¹² The 16^th Episcopal District was formally organised at the 1940 General Conference and comprise of the West Indies-, Islands of the Sea-, Guinea- and South American Annual Conferences. Recently Suriname-Guyana, Windward Islands-, Virgin Islands-, Dominican Republic-, Haiti-, Jamaica- and the London Annual Conferences were added to the 16^th Episcopal District. This District has a current membership of approximately 49 000.

Between 1900 and 1936 the AME Church penetrated into Zambia, Malawi, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zambezi and Zimbabwe. Annual Conferences in these countries were spread among the already existing Episcopal Districts. It was only at the General Conference of 1956 that the 17^th Episcopal District was established within the above mentioned countries (cf Mkwanzi 1992: 11). During the 1940’s onwards Malawi, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Congo Brazzaville were also added to the 17^th Episcopal District. At the General Conference of 2004 the 17^th Episcopal District was again divided into two Episcopal Districts to

12 The Global Development Council (GDC) was established at the General Conference of 2004 to ensure growth and economic development within the AME Church outside the borders of the USA.

add the 20^th Episcopal. Currently the 17^th Episcopal District consists of the South East Zambia-, South West Zambia-, North East Zambia-, North West Zambia-, Zambezi, Congo Brazzaville-, and Rwanda- and Burundi Annual Conferences, which became the largest Episcopal District in Africa. It has a membership of approximately of 105 829.

The 18^th Episcopal District was also officially established in 1956 and included congregations in Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique and Swaziland. This is the only Episcopal District with borders which never changed since its inception. The membership of the 18^th Episcopal District is approximately 28 200.

The division of the 15^th Episcopal District into two Districts in 1984 paved the way to formally establish the 19^th Episcopal District, which comprises of the Orangia-, East-, West-, Mokone Memorial- and Natal Annual Conferences. This Episcopal District currently has a membership of 86 439.

The General Conference of 2004 added another Episcopal District after a decision was made to divide the 17^th Episcopal District into two parts. The 20^th Episcopal District was then established with the Malawi North-, Malawi South-, North East Zimbabwe-, South West Zimbabwe- and Central Zimbabwe Annual Conferences. The total membership for this District is rated at 68 850 (cf Doctrine and Discipline of the AME Church 2004, 233-235).

The total membership for churches in North America, according the calculations made from the Official Directory of the General Conference of 2004 is 1 451 158.

The total number of membership for the Episcopal Districts outside the borders of North America is estimated at 420 612. Since representation at the General Conferences (where bishops are elected) is based on membership, this has a significant bearing on the election of bishops and other office bearers. Due to their number superiority it is almost inevitable that the leadership positions in the AME Church are filled by North Americans.

2.8 The structures of the AME Church