ABOUT
BETHEL AME CHURCH,
MADISON, IL
Bethel AME Church stands as a beacon of faith in Madison, IL. We are a place of prayer, peace and joy to all who join us. Our community is richly diverse, with people of different ages and backgrounds coming together to worship and serve together. We welcome all individuals seeking God’s love and our doors are open to every soul seeking to welcome Jesus into their heart.
WELCOME
We will bless the Lord at all times, His praises shall continually be in our mouth.
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Greetings in the Mighty and Awesome Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Truly, our God is a great God who continues to show Himself faithful.
Welcome to Bethel AME Church…….  
It is our privilege and pleasure on behalf of our pastor Rev. Pierce L. Harper Sr. and First Lady, Ashlon L. Harper to welcome you and to thank God for the opportunity to come into your homes.
We want to take this opportunity to glorify the name of Jesus for the grace that has enabled us to meet here.
Those of you worshipping with us for the first time or second time, know that you are welcomed and that we love guests. We are so grateful that God has placed it on your hearts to visit with us today. 
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It is our prayer that the grace of the Lord will be you always and His mercies will accompany you wherever you are.
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We pray that in the midst of your day today, there will be a nugget of something that you can grab hold on, something that will help you to go even higher in your praise and worship and that the Holy Spirit will guide us and to teach us what is the will of God for our lives.
Again, welcome and we thank God for you.
ABOUT OUR PASTOR
Rev. Damon Mitchell is well known in the AME church, having served on all levels including Episcopal Committees, YPD connectional officer, erudite pastor, conference leader, and gifted songwriter/artist. Rev. Damon is an ordained Itinerant Elder in the AME Church. He has served as pastor of St. Luke AME Church in East St. Louis and St. Paul AME Church in Springfield, Illinois. During his eight-year St. Luke tenure, the church grew spiritually, numerically, and financially. Under his leadership, the church hosted many notable outreach events which have yielded local and international impact.
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Rev. Damon served as pastor of St. Paul AME Church in Springfield for one year where a new website was launched, the baptismal pool was repaired which hadn’t worked in more than 30 years, a multi-year grant was developed to provide trauma-informed care to the community, and partnerships developed with the Food Bank, Salvation Army, Fietchens Elementary, and U of I Springfield.
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In August 2025, Rev. Damon was appointed to the pastorate of Bethel AME Church in Madison, Illinois. Bethel is not a stranger to Rev. Mitchell as it is his home church where he served as Altar Boy, Musician, Sunday School teacher, and Choir President.
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Rev. Mitchell boasts an impressive corporate background having been a Regional Training Director for Barnes & Noble for nearly 20 years. Rev. Damon went on to become the Director of Business Operations for Maryville University and now serves Development Director the university’s outreach programs, raising funds for two non-profit programs.
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Rev. Damon Mitchell holds an Associate of Arts degree in Secondary Education, from Southwestern Illinois College; a Bachelor of Science in Education & Development from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale; MBA from Lindenwood University; Master of Divinity from Regent University, and a Data Analytics certificate from Cornell University.
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Rev. Mitchell has released two gospel albums: Blessed and Soundtrack. He’s been blessed to M.C. concerts for Richard Smallwood and Marvin Sapp and opened for Maurette Brown-Clark, Kierra Sheard, Erica Campbell, and Ms. Anita Wilson. Rev. Mitchell is wonderfully married to his best friend Tamika and is the proud father of Gabrielle and Gavin.
