By Angelena Spears, 1st Episcopal District
On Sunday, October 26, members of Mt. Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church in Darby, Pennsylvania, gathered during an afternoon service to celebrate the church’s sesquicentennial (150th) anniversary. The service was extra special because their bishop, the Right Rev. Samuel L. Green, Sr., joined them to bring the celebratory message.
Bishop Green uplifted the anniversary theme: Faith, Fellowship, and Service, based on Psalm 100:5, which recalls how God’s faithfulness continues through all generations. He preached a powerful message of encouragement to the Darby church, often called “a light set upon a hill.”
Bishop Green also thanked the Reverend Dr. Jacquita Wright-Henderson for her leadership of the congregation. Dr. Wright-Henderson, who is also the 2nd vice president and parliamentarian of Women in Ministry, has been the pastor of Mt. Zion Darby since 2018. Bishop Green’s sentiments were echoed by the district’s presiding elder, the Rev. Dr. Janet Jenkins Sturdivant, who says Mt. Zion has been “progressive and hardworking” since Pastor Wright-Henderson’s first day.
Just two short years into her assignment, COVID-19 hit, which required everyone to shift into a new gear. Dr. Wright-Henderson led the church in establishing an online presence and implemented “Tech Tuesdays” to keep the congregation “plugged in” to worship and connected. During the Tech Tuesdays, she taught members how to access and navigate through services, Bible study, and meetings online.
The Sunday anniversary service culminated a weekend that included a Saturday afternoon banquet at The Oaks Ballroom in Glenolden, Pennsylvania. During the banquet, five of the church’s longtime members were honored for their years of dedicated service. The honorees were: Harry Collins, current member of the Trustee Board; Constance Carey, a steward emeritus; Ethel Williams, a trustee emeritus; Esther Morrell, a Women’s Missionary Society emeritus; and the Rev. Gilbert S. Clark, a retired associate minister.
The weekend’s events were attended by Presiding Elder Sturdivant and several of the church’s former pastors, including the Rev. Alberta Jones, who served from 2007-2014, and the Rev. Dr. H. Holland Fields, who served from 1979-1986. Community leaders were also present at the Sunday service.
Mary Humphrey, the anniversary committee chair, says it was important to recognize the church’s rich history and honor the pastors, officers, and dedicated members who had served. “Over the years, we have continued the legacy of serving our community and maintaining God’s house as a ‘light set upon a hill,’” says Humphrey.
The church’s rich history dates back to its founding in 1875. It was the first black church established in Darby, PA. On the second Sunday of May that year, eleven people gathered to organize a Sunday School and Bible Study class. Two years later, in October of 1877, the lot where the church now stands at 1008 Center Street was purchased for $150 — from a Quaker couple. Later, members built a 20 x 30’ frame building, which cost $500 to transform into a little chapel.
Humphrey, who served with co-chairs Cheryl Davenport and Diane Harris, says the committee continues to receive phone calls and text messages from members expressing how much they enjoyed the celebratory weekend. On a recent Sunday, she says the church’s musician, John Pollard, began playing a song he had created specifically for the anniversary celebration. When he started playing the song, people spontaneously began marching around the sanctuary, praising God and singing.
Contact Angelena Spears at sharambee@aol.com or at 484-219-5053.
