Bishop Allen Film Goes 'Viral' - Viewed On Five Continents

Feb. 26, 2011 - PRLog -- ONLINE TABULATION CHARTS CONFIRM THE NEW FILM ON BISHOP RICHARD ALLEN has, indeed, been viewed on five continents. The film was produced by Mother Bethel AME Church and History Making Productions in Philadelphia, thanks to a generous donation from the Lomax Family Foundation. Bishop Richard Allen Apostle of Freedom went live on the Mother Bethel website (http://www.motherbethel.org/allen/version2/)  on February 13, 2011 has been viewed more than 5,000 times. The number of viewers far exceeds 5,000 because most of the 3-million AME Church members around the globe were encouraged to host “watch parties” which were attended by hundreds of people.  According to the web hosting site, the film has been seen in the following countries: US, South Africa, Bermuda, Canada, Great Britain, Trinidad and Tobago, India, Swaziland, Namibia, The Netherlands, Jamaica, Barbados, The US Virgin Islands, Mozambique, Ireland, The Domincan Republic, Switzerland, Mexico, Ghana, Zambia, Guyana, Spain, and Germany.  There are a sizable number of AME Church members in most of the areas listed – however it is believed a lot of the viewers are non-AME church members or members living abroad.  
Bishop Richard Allen Apostle of Freedom is the first ever documentary about the life of Bishop Richard Allen, church founder and abolitionist. The film will remain online indefinitely thanks to a generous donation from New York Jets Offensive Lineman D’Brickashaw Ferguson. Ferguson is a lifelong member of the AME Church, and his foundation “The D’Brickashaw Ferguson Foundation,” sponsored the free online presentation. In addition to music by the distinguished Wilberforce University Choir, under the direction of Jeremy Winston, the film score is composed by Grammy award winning producer Phil Davis of PHD Productions in Atlanta, Georgia.  Davis has produced music with famous artists like Will Downing and Rachelle Farrell. Davis also once played piano for Big Bethel AME Church in Atlanta, Georgia. Rising opera star J’nai Bridges, Mezzo-Soprano who is the current Mid-Atlantic Regional Metropolitan Opera Champion, performs a spiritual solo on the film. “This is the first high quality, PBS style documentary on the life of Bishop Allen, arguably one of America’s founding fathers,” says Mother Bethel’s pastor the Rev. Mark Kelly Tyler, PhD., who also served as Executive Producer, Producer and writer for the film. Bishop Richard Allen Apostle of Freedom was shot in Philadelphia with Philadelphia area actors, and extras who are members of both Mother Bethel AME Church (the congregation Bishop Allen started in 1794) and Historic St. George’s UMC (the church that Allen walked out of because of racial segregation). The short film tells some stories from Bishop Allen’s life adapted from his autobiography. The Bishop Allen character narrates the film as the voice of Bishop Allen. He also re-enacts historic moments like the infamous ‘walk-out’ from St. George’s United Methodist Church due to racial segregation. The intense scene was actually filmed in the balcony of Historic St. George’s. The film also has expert analysis from AME scholars and leaders including Bishop Richard Franklin Norris, who oversees the First Episcopal District; Dr. Dennis Dickerson, Historiographer of the AME Church; Dr. Jacqueline Grant, and Professor Richard Newman author of the most recent Allen biography.
Mother Bethel is seeking sponsors for the film in order to translate it into different languages and fund future projects. Sponsorship can be obtained through the following levels: Diamond ($1,000), Platinum ($500) and Gold ($250). Names of sponsors will appear on the film’s landing page. “We are currently in the planning stages of more documentaries that will tell the story of our church’s forefathers,” says Rev. Dr. Mark Tyler. “Our history is an important American story rich with accomplishments, conflict and drama.”
For more information call (215) 925-0616. Media inquiries call (609) 247-2632.

Film Reviews
“I encourage all to view this, purchase the video, show it to our youth, show it to our visitors, show it to all who come by our churches.” -  Teresa Wilson, St. John A.M.E. Church, Hamilton Parish. Bermuda

"The film was very, very well done! Hats off to Dr. & Mrs. Tyler and the Mother Bethel AME Church family for making this film a reality!" – Belinda Jones

“ History has been made on Allen's 251st birthday!"  - Carole Copeland Thomas, Bethel AME Church Boston

“Do I have to tell you that the film was so captivating you
could hear a pin drop as all eyes were riveted on what
unfolded before us?  To God be the Glory!” -Dr Letitia Watford Pastor Murdock! The Chapel @ Pike Road

“The video was well done and professionally edited. It should be played at every Founder's Day Celebration. Bravo to Pastor Mark Tyler and the Mother Bethel Church family for keeping the legacy alive!!” – Melvin Jones

“This is so wonderful! I can't wait to share this in our New Members class. Thank you so much for putting together this historic documentary that we as AME and African Americans can be proud of.” – Leela Brown Waller

About Bishop Richard Allen
Born as a slave to Colonial Chief Justice Benjamin Chew, owner of the Cliveden Estate in Germantown, Allen later purchased his freedom from a Delaware slave owner who bought him as a child. He went on to distinguish himself as more than just a church leader. He hauled salt for the Continental Army during the American Revolution; he acted bravely in caring for the dying and burying the dead in the Yellow Fever Outbreak of 1793; he and Absalom Jones were the holders of the first copyright by African Americans when they published their rebuttal to Matthew Carey's account of the Yellow Fever Outbreak; he was a successful entrepreneur, claiming George Washington's Executive Mansion on 6th and Market Streets as a customer of his chimney sweep business; he opened his doors to those fleeing slavery on what would become known as the Underground Railroad as an Abolitionist; he organized one of the first major protests by African Americans when 3,000 people gathered at Mother Bethel Church to denounce the American Colonization Society's plan to send free Blacks to Africa; and, he had an active correspondence with the president of Haiti to the point that he sent missionaries to that nation in the 1820s to help them organize build infrastructure.  
Bishop Allen is most known for his bold act of independence against the racial and religious intolerance of his time when he walked out of the segregated pews at St. George's Methodist Church in the late 1700s. This act ultimately led to the establishment of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1816, which grew out of Mother Bethel and similar congregations in the northeast. This was America's first denomination established by African Americans and Allen became the first Bishop.

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http://www.motherbethel.org

Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church was founded in 1794 by Bishop Richard Allen and is settled on the longest, continuously owned land by African Americans in the United States.

Sunday Worship: 8am & 11am

Church School : 9:30am

Overflow parking on Sunday's and for most special events at McCall Elementary School located at 325 South 7th Street across the street from the church. Lot is accessible from 7th Street, one half block north of Pine St.

Bible Study: Tuesdays 7pm, Wednesdays 11am

Richard Allen Museum Hours: Sunday After Service, Monday by Appointment,
Tuesdays - Saturdays from 10am-3pm or by appointment


Rev. Mark Kelly Tyler, PhD, Senior Pastor