Humble Beginnings
The earliest known national organization among Black Episcopalians as the Protestant Episcopal Society for Promoting the Extension of the Church Among Colored People, founded in 1856 by James Theodore Holly of St. Luke’s New Haven, CT.
There were then four Black clergy and seven congregations. With their female auxiliary, the Good Angels, they fought the exclusion of Black from Episcopal seminaries ad diocesan conventions, as well as the refusal of the Episcopal Church to take a stand against slavery.
The Society, like all Black America, was divided over the issues of emigration to Africa or Canada for immediate freedom, or remaining in the States for eventual freedom. In 1861, Holly immigrated to Haiti. A remnant of the organization carried on for a few years under the Samuel V. Berry of St. Philip’s Church, Buffalo, NY.
After the Civil War, General Convention’s Protestant Episcopal Freedom’s Commission established schools and churches in the South. Southern white resistance, northern white apathy, and dwindling revenues led to the disbanding of the Commission in 1867. That same year, a group of Blacks in Baltimore founded the Society for the Promotion of Church Work Among the Colored People.
The Rev. Kim L. Coleman is the president of the Union of Black Episcopalians. Click here to watch her 2021 President’s message.
The Union of Black Episcopalians (UBE) have several regions and numerous chapters across the United States. Here are a few:
Mid-Atlantic Region Chapters:
- Maryland Chapter, MD
- Earl B. Scott, Southern NJ
- Philadelphia Chapter, PA
- Diocese of Virginia, VA
- Diocese of Southern Virginia, VA
- Washington, D.C.
Mid-West Region Chapters:
- Chicago Chapter, Chicago, IL
- Bishop H. Irving Mayson, Detroit, MI
- Bishop Herbert Thompson and Wilma Ruth Combs, Southern OH
Northeast Region Chapters:
- Greater Hartford, Hartford, CT
- New Haven, New Haven, CT
- Southern CT
- Massachusetts, Boston, MA
- Diocese of Newark, Northern NJ
- St. Philip’s McDonough, Brooklyn, NY
- Bishop James Theodore Holly, Buffalo, NY
- Diocese of New York, NYC and vicinity
- St. Stephens, Jamaica, Queens, NY
- Grace Church, Jamaica, Queens, NY
Southern Region Chapters:
- Atlanta Chapter, GA
- The Theodore R. Gibson Chapter, Miami, FL
- Bishop Theodore Demby, Central Florida, Orlando, FL
- Fr. John E. Culmer, SW FL
- Charlotte Angel-Charlotte, NC
- Triad-Piedmont, Greensboro, NC
- Diocese of East Tennessee, TN
- Myra McDaniel – Rev. John D. Epps Chapter, Houston, TX
- Artemisia Bowden, San Antonio, TX
- Father Curtis Sisco
Western Region Chapters:
- Diocese of Arizona, Phoenix, AZ
- Greater Los Angeles, CA
- H. Bellfeld Hannibal, Los Angeles, CA
- Northern California Vivian Traylor, NV
To learn more about the Union of Black Episcopalians visit their website at http://www.ube.org; The All Saints Episcopal Church “Good News” April – July 2019 newsletter