On February 4, 1824, Allen Temple African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church, the first organized Black congregation in Cincinnati and west of the Allegheny Mountains, was born out of a desire for autonomous worship and community development. Worship services were held at various locations, including the cellar of Pastor Philip Brodie's home. During the first 50 years, the congregation grew considerably. Among several locations, they held worship services at the Little Red Church on the Green and the Old Lime House. During the years before the Civil War, our church congregation and buildings were the object of hate, derision and violence, largely due to our anti-slavery work and beliefs. Even though racial violence and rioting dislocated most of the black community in 1862, the membership was undaunted. Several women of the church organized a Freedman's Aid Society which distributed rations to the needy, cared for the sick at a makeshift church hospital and helped find shelter for former slaves.

In October 1870, Allen Temple purchased the K.K. Israel Synagogue (6th & Broadway) for $25,000. In a span of less than 40 years, this group of committed believers had moved from Rev. Brodie's cellar to a sanctuary with a seating capacity of over 1,000. The next 108 years marked the cementing of Allen Temple's commitment to Christian witness and community empowerment. Many ministers served the congregation during this period; among them were: Rev. A. C. Sumpter; Wallace M. Wright; Charles E. Drummer; Simon A. Perkins; H. Mason Brown; Taylor T. Thompson; and Donald H. Jordan; all have contributed to the rich legacy of Christian commitment and social justice.

In October 1979, under the tenure of Rev. Brown, Allen Temple left its historic downtown location and moved to Roselawn. Rev. Brown was noted for his financial acumen and for maintaining the spiritual fervor that the congregation had not experienced since Pastor Drummer (1957-1973). In 1989, Dr. Taylor T. Thompson, came to the church with a passion for winning souls and restoring communities. He began the annual "Festival of Pentecost" and introduced the African- centered Umoja Summer Day Camp. Under the leadership of our current pastor, Rev. Jordan, the church is now primed to repeat the type of growth experienced in 1834. He has adeptly combined the business acumen of Rev. Brown and the Neo-Pentecostal spirit brought by Dr. Thompson, into a 21st century style of pastoral leadership previously unknown. Pastor Jordan revived the spirit of Allen Temple with a ministry of joy, fellowship, commitment and love. He led the church through a visionary program of expansion that culminated with the building of a beautiful new sanctuary, completed in 2004.

Under our current leadership, the dynamic, cultivating Rev. Dr. Mark W. Thompson is teaching how to become whole through Christian living. Thus, as we enter the dawning of a new century, we strive to understand how we can resurrect souls and reclaim our communities. For we have not only broken ground for a new sanctuary and Family Life Center, we also open our lives as we reaffirm our historical legacy and participate in the liberating works of ministry.

Various Allen Temple Worship locations since 1824

(Photos: Left - Right)
Father's King House, Old Lime House, Little Red Church on the Green, Allen House

6th & Broadway		7181 Reading Road

The New Allen Temple - 7080 Reading Road

THE LORDS PRAYER
Our father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever, Amen.

THE APOSTLES CREED
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ his only son our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead; and buried. The third day he arose from the dead' he ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Church Universal, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Amen.

THE GENERAL CONFESSION
Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Maker of all things, Judge of all men, we acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness which we from time to time most grievously have committed by thought, word, and deed against your divine Majesty, provoking most justly your wrath and indignation against us. We do earnestly repent and are heartily sorry for these our misdoings; the remembrance of them is grievous unto us.

Have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us, most merciful Father for Your Son our Lord Jesus Christ's sake; forgive us all that is past, and grant that we may ever hereafter serve and please You in newness of life, to the honor and glory of Your name, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS - EXODUS 20:1-17

1. And God spake all these words, saying,
2. I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
5. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6. And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
7. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
8. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work:
10. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates;
11. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.
12. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
13. Thou shalt not kill.
14. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
15. Thou shalt not steal.
16. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
17. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor’s.