The Allen Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church is the oldest African-American church in Kalamazoo, founded in 1855 and still operating today. Dr. N. H. Jeltz, despite travelling across the country to perform emancipation ceremonies, is also referred to as Allen Chapel AME’s secretary of the Commission of Evangelism on a couple different occasions. He’d performed before with the Allen Chapel, like he did in 1925. As the church expanded over the years, it relocated a couple times, such as in 1867 and 1914, then finally in 1980 relocating to the former Simpson United Methodist Church, where the AME still operates today. Over the course of its history, the church has had around 42 ministers, with the Reverend at the time of the service, James A. Dean serving from 1940 to 1944. Although the church’s members tend to consist of the older population in recent years, the church still regularly holds events, services, and funerals.