Rev. Mark Kelly Tyler talks of mixed feelings, preparing to give his ‘last sermon,’ and stepping down as pastor at Mother Bethel AME
“I’m going to have to fight back the tears when I give it,” he said.
Early Thursday morning, Rev. Mark Kelly Tyler had not come up with the title for the sermon he will preach this Sunday, Nov. 3.
It will be his last sermon as pastor of the historic Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, a National Historic Landmark, that Bishop Richard Allen, a formerly enslaved man, founded in Philadelphia in 1794.
“I don’t have a title for the sermon yet. I know I’m going to have to fight back the tears when I give it,” Tyler said by phone from an airport lounge, awaiting a flight back to Philadelphia on Thursday.
Tyler, 58, announced to the congregation last summer that he would seek election to become one of nine general officers of the international African Methodist Episcopal Church.
At the AME General Conference on Aug. 26, Tyler won the election to become the denomination’s next historiographer and executive director of the church’s Department of Research and Scholarship.
Although he immediately took on that new role on Aug. 27, he was to remain pastor at Mother Bethel for about two months until a new pastor was assigned. He will continue to live in Philadelphia.
Tyler said on Thursday that Bishop Samuel Lawrence Green Sr., who leads the First Episcopal District, will announce the name of the new Mother Bethel pastor on Nov. 9. The new pastor will preach their first sermon on Nov. 10.
This transition time has been a combination of both sadness about leaving the pulpit and excitement about his new job as a general officer and historiographer.
“It’s been a time full of mixed emotions,” he said. “On the one hand, I will miss serving in the role of pastor. But on the other hand, there is a lot of excitement for the opportunities to do something different by focusing on the history of the AME Church and the history of Black people overall.”
His role as historiographer
As historiographer and executive director of Research and Scholarship, Tyler has already begun the traditional work of the positions. One responsibility is editor of The AME Church Review, the scholarly publication of the AME Church that was first published in 1841. He will edit and be in charge of other editors of scholarly research published in the magazine.
Tyler will also help other local AME church congregations around the world develop the histories of their congregations and gain funding for preservation efforts.
Mother Bethel, at 6th and Lombard, is the oldest AME church in the world, hence the honorific “Mother” in its name. The church held its first service on July 29, 1794, according to the church’s website. And under founder Richard Allen’s leadership, it would grow into an international congregation that has 20 Episcopal districts in 39 countries.
Black History on 2 Wheels
Tyler had also talked about continuing to produce documentary and feature films about the AME Church. Other documentarians have featured Mother Bethel in their series, such as Henry Louis Gates’ The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross. But Tyler wants to make a documentary focused solely on Mother Bethel itself.
The historiographer has also started a personal history project, Black History on 2 Wheels, that combines his love of history with his love of motorcycle riding. The series of videos focuses on his motorcycle trips to explore Underground Railroad sites around the country and specifically Underground Railroad sites at AME churches.
“One of the things that always frustrates me is that when the Underground Railroad story is told, it is generally told as this is something the Quakers put together and Black people had no agency in it,” Tyler said.
“The earliest persons who were part of what became the Underground Railroad were Black people like Richard and Sarah Allen who used their resources — before a network was established — to help people seeking their freedom.
“And when it became a real thing, Black people were not pushed aside. If you read anything by William Still or Charles Blockson you will see an amazing story of self-determination and agency for Black folks by Black folks.”
Saying goodbye
Sunday will be the last sermon after 16 years leading Mother Bethel, but Tyler has been a pastor at other churches for a total of 30 years.
“It’s hard leaving a role where, as a pastor, you share so much of the personal lives of the congregants,” he said. “I will miss all the different things that come along with that: being able to watch people grow up and come back years later to talk about the ways the ministry you led helped them. And I will miss celebrating with families through baptisms, marriages and college graduations, and sitting with them in times of hardship and grief. It’s a lot of work serving as a full-time pastor, but it’s also rewarding.
“I’m still kind of nervous thinking about: ‘What am I going to do next week?’”