It was the spirit of God and his excellence that inspired the initial members of our great church to establish Wayman. Wayman A.M.E. Church was organized in 1919 by Presiding Elder Thomas Stoval, who saw the need for an A.M.E. Church for residents of Minneapolis' north side. It was organized in the home of Mrs. Lucinda Jackson at sixth and Emerson Avenue North with 23 persons present. Several members of St. Peter's and St. James, St. Paul attended. The Church congregation was incorporated July 23, 1928. The Trustee Board consisted of J.C. Batsell, J.C. Battles, Savallah Keith and William Whitaker. J.C. Batsell was the Secretary. Wayman A.M.E. Church was named for Bishop Alexander W. Wayman who was consecrated Bishop in 1864 and served on the bench for 31 years. After worshiping in various homes, the congregation moved into its first church building at 537 James Avenue North. This building was destroyed by fire on November 22, 1938, and once again, the congregation was without a House of Worship. The building was not insured and the Church was without resources to rebuild. The congregation met in the Phyllis Wheatley House. In 1939, under the leadership of Reverend Henderson Reddick, a duplex dwelling was purchased at 819 Fremont Avenue North. It was renovated and the upstairs served as parsonage; the sanctuary was on the first floor. In 1944, the 819 Fremount properties were sold and another similar, but larger building was purchased at 619 Fremont Avenue North. The congregation this time consisted of 54 adults and 26 children. These dedicated members pledged to remain in this building and build a new Church. On September 12, 1954, Bishop George W. Baber assigned Dr. Marlin J. Hendrieth of Detroit, Michigan to Wayman A.M.E. Church. Bishop Baber's charge to Dr. Hendrieth was "Build these people a Church." Dr. Hendrieth didn't realize how great the challenge would be or how long it would take to make the Bishop's charge to build a reality. Dr. Hendrieth realized that before he could embark upon building a new Church, the present building had to be renovated on all three levels in order to meet the needs of the congregation. As the renovation was in progress, Dr. Hendrieth and the building and planning committee were constantly studing plans, buying land to make the dream of a new church edifice come true. He soon became aware that the resources within the Wayman Church family were not adequate to handle this great task, so he reached out in the community and organized a building and finance committee. Mr. Roy Larsen, President of Twin City Federal Savings and Loan, was chairperson of the committee for the new Wayman A.M.E. Church building. Mr. Harry Gerris and Mr. Donald Knutson contributed professional services. Mr. Larsen directed a campaign that raised $175,000.