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Our church was found in 1841 as the first organized Colored church congregation. The church is located on its original site, at the corner of Washington and Orleans Street, in the Memphis Landmark's Commission Historic District, immediately North of the Neely Mallory House in the Victorian Village Historic District. The congregation began worshiping on this site in 1841, under an arbor. Before then the slaves and servants had worshiped in the loft of First Methodist Church (formerly Wesley Chapel). The congregation was then known as the Wesley Chapel African Mission. In 1845, the deeds to the basement of Wesley Chapel were given to tis colored members. The then slaves paid for the renovation of the basement.
In 1859, the Conference of the C.M.E. Church South, charged Rev. J.T.C. Collins (white), with the responsibility of leading the members in purchasing the site and building a church. The conference named the church Collins Chapel in honor of the leadership Rev. Collins had provided. This church predates the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church which was founded in 1870 in Jackson, Tennessee and the Civil War (1861-1865). In 1954, the General Conference of the CME Church, changed the name from Colored Methodist Episcopal Church to Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.
Maintaining the physical facility has not been easy. In 1866, the church was burned to the ground during a race riot. The church was burned tow more times in 1905 and again in 1913 when it was struck by lightning. Each time the congregation did not give up hope; they saw beyond the devastation and rebuilt again.
The Christian Index, the official periodical of the CME Church and second oldest African American religious periodical in continuous publication since its inception in 1868, and the Collins Chapel Hospital (about 1908) are outstanding contributions of Collins Chapel.
In 1915, six members of Collins Chapel Became charter members of the first NAACP chapter in the South. Five of its pastors were promoted to Bishops in the CME Church and eleven Pastors became connectional officers. Two pastors were active in the Civil Rights movement.
Collins Chapel was listed on the National Register of Historical Places on April 5, 1992. The areas of significance included religious history, social history, ethnic hertiage, and civil rights. The period of significance is 1913 to 1963.
Collins Chapel has had a long and illustrious history with prominent members (past and present) who have over the years made major contributions to the Memphis community in religion, medicine, business, education, and several other areas.
Our church is one of approximately 64 churches that make up the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church's First Episcopal District. We are a part of the Northwest District of the West Tennessee Region of that district.
We are governed by our local pastor, a presiding elder, and a presiding bishop.
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