History of Saint Mary Street United Methodist Church
Our Roots…
Saint Mary Street United Methodist Church traces its origin back to the mid-1800s. In 1857, Broad Street Methodist Episcopal Church established a mission Sunday school on Saint Mary Street. For twenty-five years, this mission was exclusively an all white organization. Later however, African Americans who had moved to the neighborhood
began attending and eventually joined the church. The Broad Street Methodist Episcopal Church continued to hold the title of Saint Mary Street Church’s property until 1919. In October of that year, an all black trustee board of six members was appointed. The original trustees were Lewis Phillips, Percy Binn, William Warner, W.O.C. In addition to the six trustees, there were thirteen other members. During the 1920’s, Saint Mary Street Episcopal Church united with another African American church namely Belmont Methodist Church due to low membership. Through the years, the church grew in grace, spirit and numbers. New members joined and several ministers served from 1857 to present. The first minister appointed to Saint Mary Street Episcopal Church was Rev. Landin; he was the preacher for two years. From 1925 until 1948, Saint Mary Street Methodist Episcopal Church was put on the district, which means it shared Pastors with Saint Paul Methodist Episcopal Church in Mount Holly. Horace J. Fisher was assigned to Saint Mary. In 1952, although few in numbers and under Rev. Fisher’s strong leadership, the members raised enough money and renovated the church structure, including elevating the building and adding a basement to accommodate a kitchen, dining area and bathroom facilities. Fisher served for seventeen years. From 1967 until 1971, Rev. Ernest Lyght served as the Pastor; he is now the resident Bishop of the West Virginia Annual Conference. From 1971 and on, the pastors have been Rev. Thomas Venables; Rev. Ralph Blank; Rev. William Black; Rev. Eustace Ford; our first of three female pastors, Rev. Marion A. Jackson; Rev. Willie Mae Nanton; Rev. William E. Greene. Our Present Journey…
In 2001, Rev. Rozellia P. Matthews was appointed to Saint Mary. She brought with her an extensive experience in Urban Ministries. Under her leadership on July 25, 2004, the congregation and neighborhood friends proudly marched around the block into the newly constructed Saint Mary Street United Methodist Fellowship Hall/Education Building. All services are being held here until God blesses us with a new sanctuary. The old church building was used mostly for storage until it was demolished on May 09, 2006. What a sad day it was for many of us. Our current pastor, Rev. Moses Jarta Flomo came to us in 2007. He has encouraged the congregation to “put into action our faith in a vision.” He has begun formulating and building blocks for future improvements, such as a new sanctuary. Flomo wants to see the day when we walk into our new sanctuary. Besides weekly Bible Studies, Rev. Flomo is now training Church Council attendees to be disciples. His plans are to have training classes every other month, to go out into the community, and to bring in the un-churched. We pray that Rev. Flomo will be with us for a good while. Looking into the Future…
The future is not promised to anyone; however, we, at Saint Mary, are “confident that God, who began the good work within us, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” Philippians 1:6 NLT
