The Last But Not Final Journey: St. Luke AME Church, Harlem, New York
After a fire forced out the tenants in my apartment building in 1997, I spent the next three years in a homeless shelter. Although appreciative of the help of the Red Cross, it was a very unpleasant, unsettling experience. I did not know then that God was working it out for my good.
While living in that vermin-infested shelter, I gave my life to Christ. At the end of those three years, I found an apartment in an ideal location. God had a plan for my life.
That experience reminded me of Jonah, “But the Lord provided a large fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” Jonah 1:17; and the three Hebrew boys in the fiery furnace, declaring, “If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us.” Daniel 3:17.
On November 4, 2018, under the leadership of the Rev. Marcellus A. Norris, St. Luke AME Church celebrated its 93rd Anniversary with high praise and worship. Unfortunately, we learned the following week that the roof of the church needed repairs. The insurance company determined there was a liability, and the flock on Sugar Hill were not allowed to enter the building again until repairs were completed. Like me, the congregation had lost its home.
St. Luke, whose history dates to 1925 when the Rev. Frank H. Haynes was asked by the Rev. Samuel H.V. Gumbs, Presiding Elder of the Manhattan District, to take the “Little Mission Group” that had begun with Sis. Georgana Robinson, under his spiritual leadership.
God chartered his course, and the small congregation made their pilgrim journey, worshipping in various locations throughout Harlem. After the passing of Father Haynes, the Rev. William Lee Freeman led the congregation from November 1935 through February 1936. On July 14, 1935, the Rev. Freeman was assigned to pastor St. Luke and led the congregation for fourteen fruitful years. However, it was not until 1946 that the Lord blessed St. Luke with the present sanctuary at 1872 Amsterdam Avenue.
As a church without a building, Pastor Norris, who is technologically inclined, delivered sermons on Facebook and rented school auditoriums and other venues throughout the Harlem community. Sometimes we did not know where we would be the following Sunday, but God always came through. Rev. Norris constantly fought with the insurance company that had become adversarial, but Pastor Norris was relentless in keeping the congregation together. Then COVID-19 emerged.
It seemed at times as if the devil was trying to destroy our church and scatter the flock. Yet, tenacious, unwavering, and grounded in faith, Pastor Norris encouraged and inspired the membership to trust God. No longer able to meet in person because of the pandemic, Rev. Norris established a Zoom tech team, and we began to have worship services on Zoom and through Facebook Live. Oddly, the separation from the building seemed to bring us closer together as a body. The Rev. Norris developed systems where people around the globe were able to join, visit and tithe. After Sunday worship services, we even met virtually in the “Fellowship Hall” and had Zoom fundraisings, ministry meetings, and game nights.
Shortly after entering the Zoom platform during the shut-down in 2020, the Rev. Norris, led by the Holy Spirit, began “Victorious Prayer Week” every night, Monday-Friday, at 6:00 pm. His initial intention was to do so for only two weeks, but it was so popular and effective that two weeks became 84 weeks. Prayer sessions were led each night by a member of our devoted ministerial staff. At the end of each scripture reading and ministerial prayer, participants offered prayer requests for loved ones afflicted with and dying from COVID-19 and other calamities.
Throughout the pandemic, the Rev. Norris wrangled with the insurance company. Finally, necessary repairs were made, and the Rev. Norris, after a great deal of negotiations, was able to secure a more reasonable mortgage rate, and on its 96th Anniversary, the doors of St. Luke reopened. We were able to go back to our home.
On Sunday, November 7, 2021, exactly three years later, God reopened the church doors with a new roof and a mortgage-burning ceremony! During that tumultuous time, $875,000 had been paid in full! Faith in God took us from homeless with a heavy mortgage to restored and debt-free!
Elected as a General Officer at the 2021 General Conference, the now Rev. Dr. Marcellus A. Norris would leave us to lead the office of Evangelism and Church Growth and Development of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. November 7, 2021, was his last Sunday as the pastor of St. Luke AME Church-Harlem. I am still amazed at the awesomeness of how God grew us closer and elevated the Rev. Dr. Norris for his guidance and leadership. The Rev. Dr. Norris kept us focused and faithful, and we are now a more loving, bible-reading house of prayer.
I am almost grateful for what we were confronted with, for it showed us how God works in the wilderness if we are obedient. John 15:4 says, “Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.” Likewise, Deuteronomy 31:6 reminds us to “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” God never left us, and we never stopped praising Him!
Like my three years in the shelter and Jonah’s three days and nights in the belly of the fish, St. Luke grew spiritually, and the congregation strengthened in its relationship with God. Second Corinthians 4:8-9 comes to mind as I reflect on this past—but not final—journey:
“We are hard-pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”
Once again, the worshippers at St. Luke were redeemed, delivered, and set free! Give God glory!
Sis. Avis Y. Hudson, is the Administrator and Pastoral Assistant of St. Luke AME Church, Harlem, New York. References material shared from https://www.stlukeameharlem.org/the-history.
