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Blacks in San Augustine worshiped together as early as 1845 when two slaves known as Sutton and Bartlett were granted licenses to preach in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. They built a place of worship, referred to as the "Church on the Branch," on a lot thought to belong to local landholder George Teel. After the Civil War the fellowship declined invitations to join independent groups such as the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and remained part of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. In 1866 the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, formed a separate conference for its black members, which was known as the Colored Methodist Episcopal (C. M. E.) Church. The San Augustine "Church on the Branch" joined the conference in 1870 under the pastorate of the Rev. Sam Horton but was not officially known as Jerusalem C. M. E. Church until 1946. The name Christian Methodist Episcopal Church was adopted in 1954. With its earliest history dating to the pre-Civil War era, Jerusalem memorial C. M. E. Church is considered one of the oldest black congregations in the state. For over a century it has played an important role in the growth of Methodism in San Augustine. |
