Bishop Christopher Rush, author and prominent leader in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion (A.M.E.Z.) Church, was born in 1777 in Craven County, North Carolina. He moved to New York in 1798. Rush became a member of the Church in 1803. He was licensed to preach in 1815, and he received his ordination in 1822. On May 18, 1828, he was elected Bishop of the A.M.E.Z. Church.

Rush wrote and published the "Rise and Progress of the A. M. E. Zion Church" in 1843. Bishop Christopher Rush died in 1873.

Karen Ruffle