Organized in the fall of 1865, the first minister of St. John was Rev. W. T. Osborne, who was also the first African American minister in Nebraska. The first meetings being held at a private residence on Capitol Avenue and Ninth Street in present-day downtown Omaha. After worshiping for a short time on Harney Street, the church moved to Douglas and Fifteenth Streets until the summer of 1865. That year a lot was purchased on the corner of Eighteenth and Webster Streets in Near North Omaha. The original church was built for $1,000.[4]
The longest standing member of the church was Mrs. Eliza Turner, who until her death in 1938 regularly attended St. John's for seventy years.[5] Today St. John hosts a thriving congregation, and the church serves in a variety of capacities to the surrounding community.
St. John's has been housed in three different churches. The second church was located at North 25th and Grant Streets, and was notably designed by Omaha's first African American architect, Clarence W. Wigington, which was built around the turn of the century.
When the congregation outgrew that building, they located a new place to build at 2402 North 22nd Street, St. John A.M.E. Church building was designed by local architectFrederick S. Stott in 1921 in the Prairie School style. In 1947 an auditorium was added, and additional rooms were finished in 1956. The building is remarkable for its reflection of the progressive attitude of its congregation at a time when traditional values in religious architecture were prevalent. The building is recognized as an important contribution to the Prairie School style, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in May 1980.
Notable members
St. John's has been host to several members who are notable in local and national history. They include:
