The Life and Work of Sarah E. Gorham: Missionary, Church Leader and Social Worker

Sarah E. Gorham was born December 5, 1832. No recorded documentation of her life exists until 1880. That year, she visited family members who had moved to Liberia.

EARLY CALLING AND JOURNEY TO LIBERIA

Sarah E. Gorham served 8 years as an independent missionary.

In 1880, Sarah visited her family in Liberia. Her interest in helping people and pouring into their lives was genuine. She was described then as a missionary, church leader, and social worker.

MINISTRY IN THE USA

She returned to the United States and was involved in the ministry of the Charles Street AME Church.

FIRST FEMALE AME MISSIONARY

In 1888 she was recorded as the first female missionary of the AME (African Methodist Episcopal) Church.

THE MAGBELLE MISSION

In 1888, she went to the Magbelle mission in Sierra Leone. There, she established the Sarah Gorham Mission School. It was a place of both Bible teaching and industrial training.

FINAL DAYS/LASTING IMPACT

In July 1894, Sarah was infected with malaria. She was bedridden and passed away in one month.

Sarah was buried at Kissy Road Cemetery in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

CITATIONS

Berry, Lewellyn L. (1942). A Century of Missions of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, 1840-1940. New York: AME Missionary Department.

Campbell, James T. (1995). Songs of Zion: The African Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States and South Africa. Oxford University Press.

Dandridge, Octavia. (1987). A History of the Women’s Missionary Society of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.