Camphor Memorial United Methodist Episcopal Church

Camphor Memorial United Methodist Episcopal Church is named in memory of the first African American missionary to Africa from the Methodist Church, Bishop Alexander P. Camphor in 1916. The church’s first service was held as a prayer meeting in the home of  Mr. and Mrs. Alfred McFarland. The African American congregation officially established itself on December 19, 1919, with 18 members. For four months, services were held in Grace Methodist Episcopal Church on Burr Street near East Minnehaha Street before the congregation moved to Union Hall on Aurora Avenue and Kent Street. Helped by the Board of the Home Mission and Church Extension in Philadelphia, Camphor bought its first permanent home, the former Danish Norwegian Methodist Episcopal Church on 13th and Broadway Streets in the fall of 1920 for $13,500. During this time, the church established an Industrial Department that provided jobs and training for the disadvantaged in shoe repairing, sewing, handicraft work, printing, furniture rebuilding, rug making, laundry, and dry cleaning. In 1931, the church moved to the former Church of the Messiah on 585 Fuller Avenue. The congregation resides at this location today, with the previous frame building having been demolished in 1970. Camphor is one of the four Camphor Memorial United Methodist churches located in the United States and Liberia.

 

Category: Church     Neighborhood: Downtown St. Paul