Presiding Elder Harold R. Mayberry of Oakland (right), Presiding Prelate-Bishop Francine A. Brookins, center, and Senior Pastor Dr. Jason D. Thompson, left, during the “Invitation to Christian Discipleship” at the 175th Anniversary of St. Andrews AME, the oldest AME church in California and in the Western United States. CBM photo by Antonio Ray Harvey.

The overflowing pride, spiritual joy and sense of community was tangible at the oldest African American church in California, St. Andrews African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.). On Nov. 15-16. the congregation celebrated its 175th anniversary with a special church service and a “living museum” event in Sacramento. 

Clergy, local elected officials, church auxiliary groups and other well-wishers gathered for the two-day celebration, which honored the founding of the faith community, the ongoing mission of the church, and the legacy it continues to uphold.

The Rev. Dr. Jason D. Thompson, Senior Pastor of St. Andrews, was raised in an A.M.E. church in Durham, North Carolina. He told California Black Media (CBM) that as he has grown older, he is “thankful to be a member in a free African society.”

Thompson’s leadership at St. Andrews focuses on continuing the church’s long legacy of Christian witness and advocacy for social justice, political, and educational concerns affecting underrepresented communities in Sacramento. He emphasizes the church as a place for belonging and a base for making a difference in the community. 

“That society really wanted social, economic empowerment – all these things they were fighting for so that freed Blacks at the time could make it,” Thompson said. “For me, the A.M.E. church can recapture that sense of making sure those who are downtrodden in our society understand that Jesus is love and liberation comes for them specifically. That means a lot to me now.”

In 1850, Daniel Blue, alongside other formerly enslaved men, Barney and George Fletcher, helped establish St. Andrews A.M.E. in the basement of Blue’s home. The church — initially called the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church before becoming Bethel AME — is recognized as the first AME congregation on the West Coast.

In the 19th century, St. Andrews was a hub for the community. It hosted three of the four California Colored Citizens’ State Conventions between 1855 and 1865. The conventions were gatherings of African Americans to petition for civil rights, such as the rights to vote, testify in court, and gain to access public schools. 

Convention attendees also worked on developing a broader civil rights strategy for the state.

St. Andrews, originally located at 715 7th Street—now the site of the Sacramento County Courthouse and County Administration Buildings’ parking lot—is designated California Historical Landmark No. 1013. The church now sits across from Southside Park on 8th Street.

For California’s Black settlers and pioneers in the 1850s and ’60s—many of them miners drawn to the state by the Gold Rush—AME churches, with their focus on Black liberation and empowerment, became vital centers of religious, social and political activism. They also served as hubs for organizing protests and community service, and they offered a place of worship free from segregation.

“I am 48 now and I’m still trying to learn about life, but I know that God has called us to ensure that each person has the same rights and liberty, whatever the gold standards for those who have it all…it should be the gold standard for everybody,” Thompson said. 

St. Andrews A.M.E. Church also celebrated the legacy of Daniel Blue, a wealthy Black gold miner and businessman. Formerly enslaved, Blue was the founder and a pivotal figure in the fight for civil rights and the abolition of slavery in California. 

He helped make the church a powerful center for Black activism and social justice in the mid-19th century. Blue and his wife, Lucinda, operated a school for Black, Native American, and Asian American children in Sacramento.

During its 175th anniversary celebration, young people who attend St. Andrews portrayed historical figures from the AME church’s past such as Blue, Sarah Bass Allen, and Richard Allen, who founded the AME Church in Philadelphia in 1794. 

Allen’s wife, Sarah Bass Allen, an abolitionist, helped establish the first women’s missionary society of the church, initially called “Daughters of the Conference.” 

“This was a big project. So, we had to work on it every Sunday after services,” said. Velma Sykes, the youth director of St. Andrews’ Youth Project Department. Sykes, who has been a member of the AME church all her life, joined St. Andrews when she moved to Sacramento from Kansas City over 30 years ago. 

“That’s what service still means now,” said Sidney Towé, who portrayed Sarah Bass Allen and recited a poem about the couple.

During the special service on Nov. 16, Bishop Francine A. Brookins was the guest preacher. Brookins is the Presiding Prelate of the Fifth Episcopal District, which covers 15 states in the western and central United States. 

Brookins, the fifth woman to achieve the episcopacy in the A.M.E. Church’s history, began this role in August 2024, having previously served in Southern Africa. Ordained in 2002, she has also served as the pastor of Bethel A.M.E. Church in Fontana, leading efforts to build a new church there.

Brookins’s sermon addressed the current state of affairs in the country. She urged the congregation to be rooted in God’s word and alert, prepared and responsive to the needs of their community — committing themselves to the interconnected fight against hunger, homelessness, unwarranted deportation, the elimination of health care, and the stripping of voting rights.

“There’s a problem with that and God has a problem with that,” Brookins said. “God tells the people, ‘This stuff that is going on — I need you to not fall for the okey doke, and don’t be scared. I need you to remember that there is more. I need you to know your real testimony.’”