Allen Temple A.M.E. Church (Cincinnati, Ohio)

They now hoped to be free from any other perplexity, but they soon found that their proceedings exasperated their opponents. In order to accommodate, the opponents proposed supplying the congregation with preaching if they would give six hundred dollars per year to the Methodist Society. The congregation would not consent and the amount was changed to four hundred dollars, but the people were not willing to give more than two hundred per year. For this sum the Society was to provide a preacher for them twice a week during the year, but it proved to be only six or seven times a year and sometimes by such preachers as were not acceptable to the Bethel people and not esteemed much among Methodists as preachers. The Bethel people were dissatisfied with such conduct and induced the Trustees to pass a resolution to give but one hundred dollars per year to the Methodist preachers. When a quarterly payment of the last sum was tendered, it was refused and sent back by the preachers who insisted on the two hundred dollars or they would preach no more for them. At this time they pressed strongly to have the supplement repealed but with this the congregation would not comply.

The congregation then waited on Bishop Asbury and proposed taking a preacher to themselves and supporting him in boarding and salary, provided he would attend to the duties of the church such as visiting the sick, baptizing, administering the sacrament and burying the dead. The bishop observed he did not think that there was more than one preacher belonging to the Conference who would attend to these duties and that was Richard Allen. The Bishop was then informed that they would pay a preacher four or five hundred dollars a year if he would attend to all the duties of their church that they should expect. He replied, "We will not serve you on such terms."

Shortly after this an elder (S. R.) then in Philadelphia declared that unless they would repeal the supplement, neither he nor any of the Methodist preachers, traveling or local, should preach any more for them; so they were left to themselves. At length the preachers and stewards belonging to the Academy proposed serving them on the same terms that they had offered to the St. George's preachers: they preached for them more than twelve months and then demanded one hundred and fifty dollars per year. This was not complied with, and they declined preaching for them. Once more they were left to themselves as an edict was passed by the elder that if any local preacher served them he should be expelled from the Connection.