A Church, a Family
Bethel AME Church, the oldest surviving Black place of worship in Carlisle, Pennsylvania has been providing a Jesus-centered theology of liberation and justice on East Pomfret Street since 1820.
Bethel is Open Again!
“The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty.”
Haggai 2:9
Following the lockdown of 2020, some functional issues were found within the building that precluded in-person worship for some time. Our church family adapted to the times, establishing a robust online presence. In June of 2025, we were blessed with the appointment of our 70th pastor, Rev. Emerson Cottrell. From Day-1, Pastor Cottrell’s goal was to reopen our historic sanctuary while undertaking the necessary renovations.
Come Worship With Us!
Welcome to our vibrant church family.
We meet in person twice a month in our historic sanctuary, on the first and third Sunday of the month. The details for those in-person services can be found on our Facebook page. On the other Sundays of the month, we gather and worship together via Zoom. Login information is also easily accessible on our Facebook page.
Come Study with Us!
Bethel AME Church in Carlisle is the home of an interactive Zoom-based Monday evening Study Group. Everyone is welcome, not only our members.
Regardless of how brilliant and relevant a sermon may be, too often we leave church on Sunday with half-formed ideas and plans in our head… only to forget it all quickly due to life’s distractions. Our ongoing 2025 series titled The Monday Remix is a welcome opportunity to go deeper into the message.
205 Years of History!
Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Carlisle began with a small group of Christians holding prayer meetings from house to house in the year 1820. As the number of participants grew and their spiritual strength increased, they were able to purchase a plot of East Pomfret Street in 1826, on which they planned to erect a meeting house.