ABSTRACT
Levi Jenkins Coppin was born in Frederickstown, Maryland. When he was seven his parents took him to Baltimore and later to Delaware. He was largely self-taught. In 1865 Coppin joined the Methodist Church and in 1866 was licensed to preach. The following year he was admitted to the annual conference from the Bethel Church in Wilmington, Delaware. His first pastorate was in Philadelphia. In 1884 Coppin entered the Philadelphia Episcopal Divinity School, graduating in the class of 1887. In 1888 Coppin was elected editor of the African Methodist Episcopal Church Review, America’s Negro church magazine. In 1896 he returned as pastor to Bethel Church in Philadelphia.
