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OUR CHURCH HISTORY
In 1936, six
Christians from Pennsylvania came to Newark to live, but
found no congregation of the Church of Christ at that time.
Desiring to continue in the faith, they went to Jersey City
to worship with the saints there. This group consisted of:
Howard J. Johnson and wife, Earl Johnson and wife, Pearl
Davis and Hattie Cannon.
About a year later, November
14, 1937, they began worshipping in Newark at 145 W. Market
Street in the Cotton Funeral Home. They were under the
direction of A. W. Hastings, minister of the Jersey City
church, with Levi Kennedy who was the minister of the Harlem
congregation at the time. On July 1, 1939, we moved to 27
Hartford Street, and the membership had increased to twelve.
Due to the location, we desired to move and in December,
1942 we moved to 15th Avenue and Bedford Street. During this
time, brother Hastings had to leave for the West and the
work was left in the hands of brother Howard U. Johnson and
brother Allan Jacobs. The membership grew to eighteen. Later
brother A. C. Holt of Detroit, Michigan came quarterly and
ministered to us.
In late 1943, we found a church
building at 179 Court Street which was our meeting place for
seventeen years. In 1944, we engaged a full-time minister,
brother S. T. W. Gibbs, Sr., from Texas, with the assistance
of the Manhattan Church of Christ until we became self-
supporting. Our membership had increased to fifty-eight.
In 1948, we changed ministers, brother Owen Cathey of
Chicago, Illinois became our minister. He labored with us
for five years and the church increased to 105. Our next
minister was brother Samuel Turrentine of Alabama. He served
for years and the member ship grew to 120. In 1957, we
engaged brother Aggie O'Bryant of this city to service as
the minister. The membership increased to 150. On April 25,
1960, the down-payment was made for this present building,
which was a tremendous step for us. Brother O'Bryant served
until February 3, 1963.
We engaged brother Eugene
Lawton from Terrel, Texas as minister of this congregation,
beginning July 7, 1963. We have come a long way and the road
is still ahead of us and there is much to do. We have a man
at the front who is able to do all thing through Jesus
Christ our Lord. On June 23, 1973, we started our first
Radio Program for 30 minutes weekly on station WNJR. There
have been over 2000 baptisms during his 31 year
administration. The membership has increased to over 1300.
In 1976, the mortgage on this building was paid off and we
thank God for this achievement. In 1982, brother Leonard
Bradly became our first full-time associate minister.
In 1977 central air condition was installed in the main
and overflow auditoriums and some classrooms. In 1993, an
elevator was installed in the building. The Lord blessed us
to go on Cable Television in Jersey City on Sunday, April 3,
1994. This weekly, 30 minute program is very effective. In
1977, we baptized, 80 persons. In 1978, we baptized 146
persons, the highest number of baptisms in one year in the
congregation history. We broke financial records, baptismal
records, attendance records and love in action records. This
is our annual baptism record: 1980 -115 baptisms; 1981 -124
baptisms; 1982 -88 baptisms; 1983 -68 baptisms; 1984 -113
baptisms; 1985 -60 baptisms; 1991 -93 baptisms; 1992 -94
baptisms; 1993 -81 baptisms; 1994 -70 baptisms; 1995 -104
baptisms, and 1996 -104 baptisms. We do not know what the
future holds, but we know who holds the future.
The
chartered members at Court Street were: Howard and Florence
Johnson, Pearl Davis, Edward and Fay Mayo, Turner and Jesse
Roberts, Inell Best, Arizona Greenlee, Essie Thorne, Lorena
Brown, Allan Jacobs, Mary Sykes, Catherine Jones, Mattie
Butler, Frank Johnson, Bessie Palmer, and Helen Johnson.
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