Host Pastors
The 2023 New England Annual Conference is hosted by 5 churches within the conference, Bethel AME Church - Boston, Bethel AME Church - Lynn, Charles Street AME Church, Malden Mission AME Church, and People's AME Church.
Fabulous Five Churches
People's AME Church, Chelsea
Pastor George Walters-Sleyon
In the city of Chelsea, MA about 1877, a group of 12 people banded together to pray and study God’s Word providing a strong foundation. The People’s A.M.E. Church evolved from this group. In 1908, the Great Fire destroyed several residences, businesses, hospitals, and churches. One of the buildings was the only Black church and institution in Chelsea. The church was rebuilt in 1911. However, there was another fire. People’s AME has been rebuilding since then.
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We continue not only to rebuild the physical structure but also the personal connections within Chelsea and the greater Boston area. Our Mission Is to Preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ With Our Social and Economic Contexts in Mind!
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In-Person Worship on Sundays: 10:15 am
In-Person Bible Study and Prayer Meeting: Tuesdays 6: 30pm
Sanctuary: 28 Bellingham Street. Chelsea, MA
Websites: www.peoplesamechelsea.org www.georgewalterssleyon.org
Email: peoplesamechelsea@gmail.com
Malden Mission AME Church, Malden
Malden Mission AME Church was founded in September 1998 by Rev. Edward L. Green. Shortly after Rev. Green founded the church, it was admitted to the New England Annual Conference as a Mission Church. Eventually, Rev. Green initiated a building fund for the church raising funds for a new building by selling bricks. That building fund is still active today and succeeding Pastors have added to its balance. Malden Mission has a weekly prayer call that has helped to increase the knowledge of God's word and the spiritual energy in the congregation. Members also participate in the City of Malden Thanksgiving Dinners for the Elderly each year.
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Rev. Dr. Gloria Harris Cater was assigned to Malden Mission AMEC in June 2017. During her tenure the congregation increased to 15 members. A Church School was organized, and the Mission Possible Choir was created. During the Summer and Fall of 2022, we began an in-person worship in a conference room at the Holiday Inn in Saugus, MA, that we hope to continue. At a duly scheduled church conference on January 31, 2021, the membership agreed that I should approach our Presiding Elder Jocelyn Hart Lovelace with our desire to join the New England AnnualConference. Presiding Elder Lovelace convened a Quarterly Conference on March 14, 2021, and was able to hear from the members assembled that it was their desire to go forward with our petition. At the convening of the 170th New England Annual Conference, April 15-18, 2021, Malden Mission African Methodist Episcopal Church was admitted into the conference. The congregation voted to retain the name Malden Mission.
Pastor Gloria Cater
Virtual Worship on Sundays via Zoom: 10:30 am
To receive the Meeting ID and Password, please leave a message on 617-738-0627
and Pastor Gloria Cater will return your call.
Charles Street AME Church, Boston
The Historic Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church began in 1818 when a small group of free African Americans began gathering in a small house on Beacon Hill. In 1839, this congregation sought and received incorporation by the Massachusetts Legislature as the First African Methodist Episcopal Society (it’s legal name up to today). The young church worshiped at several Beacon Hill locations, where it served as a center of Boston anti-slavery movements, constantly hosting abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, Sojourner Truth and David Walker (a Charles Street member). The church purchased the Charles Street Meeting House in 1876 where it became known as the Charles Street A.M.E. Church. After Boston’s African American population shifted from Beacon Hill and the West End to Roxbury and the South End, the congregation relocated, in 1939, to its current location on Warren Street.
Although the church was on a different street in a different neighborhood, the congregation decided to retain its name as the Charles Street A.M.E. Church. Since then, the church has been very active in the Grove Hall community and the city on many pressing issues affecting Boston’s African American community, especially education. In 2018, the church celebrated its
bicentennial and positioned itself moving ahead as “ONE church, with a SECOND wind, for a THIRD century.”
In-Person Worship on Sundays: 10:00 am
Sanctuary: 551 Warren Street, Roxbury, MA 02121
Online Worship Service Hours: ​Sunday: 10am (Hybrid)
Pastor Gregory G. Groover, Sr.
Bethel AME Church, Lynn
Founded in 1857, Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in the City of Lynn was the first African-American congregation established on Massachusetts’ North Shore. One hundred and sixty-five years later, this “Church with the Sweet, Sweet, Spirit” is a vibrant congregation where all are welcome to live out the command to love God, our neighbors and ourselves through vibrant and creative worship, the fight for social justice, fun and supportive relationships, and care for our community.
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The spiritual life of the church includes community activism of its ministers and members, who actively participated in civil rights, nationally joining the march in Washington, DC and locally working to open doors of opportunity in Lynn in the area of business, banking, education, medicine, law enforcement, and fire fighting. For many the church has been a gateway to a wider field of service. We are now prayerfully and faithfully led by Rev. Bernadette Hickman-Maynard.
In-Person Worship on Sundays: 10:00 am
Sanctuary: 72 Silsbee Street, Lynn, MA 01901
Online Worship Service Hours: ​Sunday: 10:00 am ( Hybrid)
Pastor Bernadette Hickman-Maynard
Bethel AME Church, Boston
Pastors Ray & Gloria Hammond founded Bethel in 1988. Over the past 35 years, Bethel has influenced the greater Boston community and even the world. Our purpose as believers is to fulfill Christ's commission to go into all the world and let people know that God loves us all and has a marvelous plan for our lives. From our Bethel family, to the greater community of Boston, the nation and the world.
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Ray and his wife, Gloria White-Hammond, started a church community with a mission to “make a difference in Boston, throughout America and around the world by addressing the needs of the hungry, naked, sick or imprisoned whether they be troubled in mind, body or spirit.” 35 years later that community, in collaboration with public and nonprofit educational, community, governmental and interfaith partners, has initiated more than 20 programs that annually serve around 2300 people in greater Boston and over 4,000 globally.
In-Person Worship on Sundays: 9am - 10:15am
Sanctuary: 38 Walk Hill St. Jamaica Plain, MA, 02130
Online Worship Service Hours: ​Sunday: 9am & 11am
Visit: www.bethelame.org/worship for ways to worship
Pastors Ray and Gloria Hammond