Perhaps FAS’s most troublesome act was their insistence on educating Black Americans. Starting with a reading class developed as part of Sunday school curriculum in 1795, members began opening up schools in homes, tents, and even their barns to members of their congregation. In 1802, Jones became the first African American to be ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church, and his first move was to convince his church to open a school. Allen, however, wanted to continue worshipping in the Methodist tradition that focused on sacraments and the methodical practices of the faith without the dry
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