Brooklyn church celebrates 130 years
Mass choir sings “Days of Elijah.” (Right) Chancel Choir director Belizean Barbara Moody (right) presents gift to the church’s pastor, Dr. Maxine Nixon.
Photos by Nelson A. King
Caribbean Life, O BQ CTOBER 25-31, 2019 3
By Nelson A. King
With lofty singing, praying, preaching,
scripture reading and dancing, among
other things, Brooklyn’s Fenimore Street
United Methodist Church on Sunday celebrated
its 130th anniversary.
“This is a year of victory,” said the
church’s African American pastor, the
Rev. Dr. Maxine Nixon, in her remarks
during the three-hour-long service.
“We thank God for keeping us, for
blessing us,” added Dr. Nixon, who has
been pastoring the church, whose membership
is overwhelmingly Caribbean, at
the corner of Rogers Avenue and Fenimore
Street, for the last 17 years – the
church’s longest-serving pastor. “God
has planted us here so we can bloom.”
Most congregants at Fenimore Street
United Methodist Church are nationals
from Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines,
and Barbados.
In delivering the sermon, based on
John 3:1-3, under the topic, “Something
Old, Something New,” the guest preacher,
Pastor Audley Allen, the Jamaicanborn
Associate Pastor of the Community
Worship Center of Seventh Day Adventists
(SDA) in Queens, said “130 years is
(are) a very long time.
“Many institutions have arrived on
the horizon, but this church has survived,”
he preached. “It survived because
God has been with you.
“God is the protagonist of your life,
and your protagonist is greater than the
antagonist,” Pastor Allen said. “God is
looking for a people whose life is reconstructed.
“For once, we were caterpillars,” he
added, stating that believers have transformed
into a process known as metamorphosis
to become beautiful butterflies.
“To be born again is to be changed.
That’s why Paul (the Apostle) said ‘if any
man is to be born again, he must be a
new creation.’
“When we were born again, we will
not judge each other by the color of our
skin but by the content of our character,”
continued Pastor Allen, using a popular
line from the slain US civil right leader,
the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s,
iconic “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered
at the Lincoln Memorial for the
1963 “March on Washington for Jobs and
Freedom.”
“Hold on to your struggles, because
weeping endures for a night, but joy
comes in the morning — when there’ll
be something new and something old,”
preached Pastor Allen to a standing
ovation, as congregants repeated the
refrain.
Brooklyn Councilman Dr. Mathieu
Eugene noted that Fenimore Street United
Methodist Church has been preaching
the Gospel of Jesus Christ for 130 years.
“I want to thank our sister, Rev. Dr.
Maxine Nixon, for her leadership,” said
Eugene, whose 40th Council District
includes the church. “I truly believe in
God, and I truly believe in the power of
God. Continue to preach the gospel of
God (Jesus Christ).”
During the morning-to-afternoon
worship and celebration, congregants
were treated to heart-wrenching singing
by the Mass Choir, and the Men’s
Chorale and Praise Teams; dance by the
church’s Liturgical Dance Ministry; and
saxophone renditions by Belizean Earl
Henderson.
According to the church’s history,
read by member Ezinne Nwosu, on Aug.
3, 1889, the Fenimore Street United
Methodist Episcopal Church of Flatbush
was “organized out of the first Methodist
Episcopal Church, Lenox Road and Flatbush
Avenues, and was incorporated on
Aug. 20, 1889.”
The church was formally admitted to
the New York East Conference in April
1890 and dedicated in May 1890. The
first pastor was the Rev. James L. Hall,
(1890 – 1894).
During the Rev. I. Hemmingways’
ministry (1951 – 1960), the membership
became more integrated with many
black families.
In 1968, the Rev. William J. Smartt
began his pastorate as the church’s first
black minister.
From 1972-74, Fenimore Street United
Methodist Church “was faced with the
challenge of keeping its doors open when
they were given an option to merge with
St. Mark’s United Methodist Church,”
according to historical notes.
“With strong determination and
resolve Fenimore was victorious in keeping
the church in the community,” it
said, adding that, during the pastorate
of the Rev. Lester Baker (1974 – 1980),
extensive renovations were done.
In 1978, the church building was
re-dedicated and a computerized Allen
Organ was purchased and dedicated to
the late Dr. Donald Wright.
Under the guidance of the Rev. Neville
Buchanan (1980 – 1993), “significant
accomplishments were made, including
the liquidation of our mortgage with a
ceremonial ‘burning’”, said the church
about its history.
It said the late Guyanese-born pastor,
the Rev. Dr. Ivan J. Roberts (1994 –
2002), “brought more growth, physically
to the church building and spiritually to
the congregation.”
Rev. Roberts “guided the first ‘Rally of
the Nations,’ and the proceeds were used
to purchase our church van and to air
condition the sanctuary and the Fellowship
Hall,” the statement said.
Belizean Earl Henderson plays
“Wind Beneath My Wings” on the
saxophone. Photo by Nelson A. King
Jamaican-born Pastor Rev. Audley
Allen delivers sermon at the
Fenimore Street United Methodist
Church in Brooklyn.
Photo by Nelson A. King