Print edition: 
Wichita’s oldest African-American church, St. Paul’s AME Church, will celebrate Founder’s Day at 1 p.m. Saturday at the church, 1756 N. Piatt.
Traditionally, Wichita members have traveled to Kansas City to celebrate the day, but this year the services will be in Wichita. More than 200 people and 20 ministers are expected to attend.
The African Methodist Episcopal church’s roots go back in Wichita to 1875, when African-American Methodists began meeting in the home of a Wichita couple.
The AME church was the first African-American denomination organized and incorporated in the United States. It was founded by the Rev. Richard Allen in Philadelphia in 1816 from several black Methodist congregations in the mid-Atlantic area that wanted independence from white Methodists.
AME churches always have been open to people of all races and nationalities.
