Christian Methodist Episcopal Church

black Methodist church in the United States, organized in 1870 as the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church; it officially adopted its present name in 1956. The church originated from a movement begun in 1866 within the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, to organize the black members into an independent church. At the founding convention in 1870, two bishops from the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, consecrated two black elders as the first bishops of the new church.

The church is Methodist in government and doctrine. A general conference is held every four years.

In 1997 the church reported 718,922 members and 2,340 congregations in the United States. Headquarters are in Memphis, Tennessee.