The congregation was founded in 1850 and a year later it was admitted into the African Methodist Episcopal Church, becoming the first on the West Coast.

[5][3][6] Some of the earliest congregation included Mary Robinson Thames, and Ethel Guinn.

[2] Thomas Marcus Decatur Ward had worked as briefly as the first Sunday School teacher and as a pastor.

[2] In 1854, Elizabeth Thorn Scott Flood had started an early African American school at her home with the help of this church.

The Saint Andrews African Methodist Episcopal Church had served as a community meeting place.