Union of Black Episcopalians (UBE)

The Union of Black Episcopalians stands in the continuing tradition of more than 200 years of Black leadership in the Episcopal Church.

Beginning with the establishment of St. Thomas Episcopal Church by Absalom Jones in 1794 in the city of Philadelphia through the election of Barbara Harris as Suffragan bishop of Massachusetts there has always been a strong corps of Black Christians in the Episcopal Church. People like James Holly, Henry Delaney, John Walker, Tollie Caution, Charles Lawrence, Deborah Harmon Hines, and countless other.

Organized in 1968 as the Union of Black Clergy and Laity, the Union is the proud inheritor of the work of these people and earlier organization, the Convocation of Colored Clergy, the Conference of Church Workers Among Colored People, all dedicated to the ministry of Blacks in the Episcopal Church. The name was changed to the Union of Black Episcopalians in 1971.

The Union of Black Episcopalians is a confederation of more than 55 chapters and interest groups throughout the continental United States and the Caribbean. The Union also has members in Canada, Africa and Latin America.