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Our History |
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Mt. Zion Baptist Church of Germantown is an historic church situated in an area that used to be a rural suburb of Philadelphia. In spite of poorly kept records, which create problems concerning documentation, there is one document that is dated April 15, 1871 which shows the purchase of a parcel of land at 30 West Rittenhouse Street. This property is directly across the street from the present site of the church. It is significant because the deed represents the initial purchase of land for Mt. Zion and, therefore, gives credence to the actual beginning of the church as 1871. During this period, the members were also meeting at the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) hall. The mission (as they were called) finally settled down early in the year 1890 at 30 West Rittenhouse St. and, on the advice of counsel, they went under the care of Cherry Street Baptist Church until organized as a permanent church. The membership at that time consisted primarily of the maids, butlers, and chauffeurs of the prominent white families in the area. On March 9, 1890, Mt. Zion called its first pastor, the Reverend Morton Winston, a former slave and stone cutter.
Rev. Winston was born in 1857 and was educated in the country schools of Henrico County, Virginia until 1877. He was licensed to preach in Virginia and at some point moved to Chester County, Pennsylvania. He went on to establish a church and remained there until his calling to Mt. Zion. On March 5, 1905, Rev. Winston was granted the Bachelor of Divinity degree by a theological college in Baltimore, Maryland (the precise name of the school is uncertain).
Under Rev. Winston’s leadership, land was purchased from the County Poor House for the sum of $5,500. Having secured the land, plans were made for the construction of the edifice in which we worship to this day. The church is built of stone obtained from a quarry that was owned by one of its members, Mr. Robert J. Byrd, Sr., who served as chairman of the Trustee Board and Superintendent of the Sunday School for many years. The building was completed and ready for use by 1896 at a cost of $28,500.
Rev. Winston served as pastor from 1890 until his death in 1927. Rev. Roland C. Lamb, pastor of the Shiloh Baptist Church, Plainfield became Mt. Zion’s second pastor and served from March 1929 until October 1939. In 1939, Rev. Lamb left to establish the Providence Baptist Church at 87 East Haines Street in Germantown. The third pastor of Mt. Zion was the Rev. J. Timothy Boddie. Rev. Boddie was a graduate of Virginia Theological Seminary and College. He pastored Mt. Zion from 1937 until 1942. Rev. Boddie returned to Baltimore, Maryland in 1942 to pastor the New Shiloh Baptist Church.
Mount Zion’s fourth pastor was the Rev. Dr. J. Quinton Jackson. Dr. Jackson served as pastor from 1943 until 1974. He is often referred to as the "father of the modern day Mt. Zion". Under Dr. Jackson’s leadership, our sanctuary was renovated to include a divided chancel in 1956. Also, Vacation Bible School was started, and for the first time in the Germantown community, Boy Scout and Girl Scout Troops were sponsored by a Black church. One of Dr. Jackson’s greatest accomplishments, however, was the purchase of a synagogue in 1961, which was to serve as Mt. Zion’s educational center. This synagogue had been one of the most active houses of worship for the Orthodox Jewish community from the early 1900’s until the 1940’s. In the late 1940’s and into the 1960’s, the community experienced a declining Jewish population and therefore a waning group of worshippers, hence, the availability of the synagogue. Dr. Jackson (affectionately known as, J. Q.) retired as pastor in 1974. He served as Pastor Emeritus until his death in 1980.
The Reverend Dwight McCauley Jackson of Atlanta, Georgia became Mt. Zion’s fifth pastor. Rev. Jackson was installed in June of 1977. He was a Morehouse College graduate and represented the third generation of preachers in his family. During his administration, additional property was purchased which is now the parking lot at 44 - 48 West Rittenhouse St. Rev. Jackson left Mt. Zion in December of 1985 to accept the pastorate of the Amity Baptist Church of Jamaica, Long Island, New York. On April 24, 1987, a native Philadelphian, the Rev. Dr. Harold Dean Trulear, became the sixth pastor to lead Mt. Zion. He too, is a Morehouse College graduate and was the first pastor of Mt. Zion to have a Ph.D. Under his leadership, Mt. Zion’s $1,000 annual scholarship award was established for a graduating high school student who is a member of the church, an active participant in church activities, academically sound, and pursuing a college degree. In May of 1990, Dr. Trulear accepted the position of Dean of Black Church Studies at New York Theological Seminary, thereby ending his tenure at Mt. Zion.
It was on Sunday, March 1, 1992 that Rev. Dr. Bruce N. Alick assumed the pulpit and became the seventh pastor of this great church. Alick is a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior while in fourth grade. One month before his 17th birthday, Dr. Alick was licensed to preach at the Gibson Temple Baptist Church in Philadelphia. The date was September 12, 1971. In 1974, Dr. Alick joined the Vine Memorial Baptist Church and was ordained there on November 20, 1985 where the Rev. Dr. James S. Allen serves as pastor and as his father-in-the-ministry.
Dr. Alick received his early education in the Philadelphia public school system, graduating from Simon Gratz High School in 1972. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree (with honors) in Religion and Philosophy at Bishop College of Dallas, Texas in 1981. He attended the
Morehouse School of Religion at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, Georgia where he received his Master of Divinity degree in 1987. He received his Doctor of Ministry degree (May, 2000) at the United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. His dissertation was entitled, “Empowering an African-American Congregation through the Development of a Computer Literacy Program.” During the summer of 2001, Dr. Alick studied at the Summer Leadership Institute (SLI) at Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Under his leadership, we are continuing to grow. Our membership is reflective of the diversity that exists within the Black community at large and the Germantown area in particular. There are doctors, lawyers, corporate executives, teachers, principals, students, entertainers, social workers, nurses, domestic workers, etc. We have a very active senior citizens ministry (the Fellowship Guild) and a very active youth ministry (Youth Fellowship). The young adults in our congregation are active in the various ministries of our church (Outreach Feeding Ministry, Human Services Ministry, Music Ministry, Ushers, Trustees, Deacons, Women’s Fellowship, Men of Barnabas, etc.). In October of 1996, Mt. Zion celebrated its 125th anniversary. Since that time we have moved in new directions which will broaden our outreach into the 21st century. We have added a Web Ministry and have a prominent presence on the Internet. In addition to being able to help promote the Gospel of Jesus Christ over the Internet and the World Wide Web, another important benefit is that our young people, who go away to college, will always be able to stay in touch with the church via e-mail.
Mt. Zion has many affiliations with organizations both in and outside of the Germantown community. We have membership in the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., American Baptist Churches (formerly, the American Baptist Convention) and the Lott Carey Foreign Mission Convention. On the state level, we are a part of the Pennsylvania State Baptist Convention and the Pennsylvania State Baptist Congress of Christian Education. Locally, we have membership with the Philadelphia Baptist Association (the oldest Baptist association in the United States), the Germantown Congress of Christian Education, and the Pennsylvania Eastern Keystone Baptist Association.
Some of our non-church related memberships include life membership in the NAACP, and the Germantown Historical Society. One of our Deacons, the late Thornhill Cosby, served as President of the Philadelphia branch of the NAACP.
As a church, we firmly believe in giving back to the community. Every Wednesday, we have our Outreach Feeding Ministry, where we feed homeless people from all over the area. This ministry is part of an ecumenical effort that involves several churches in the Germantown community. Everyday in our neighborhood, a church provides meals for the homeless. Our day is Wednesday. The persons involved are all volunteers who don’t mind sacrificing the time or the effort. Mt. Zion also contributes financially to many organizations nationally and locally through our missions giving and charitable contributions. Mt. Zion is a traditional Black Baptist church that is learning to do ministry in non-traditional ways. We are a church that has a strong history of providing leadership and service for all persons, but especially for African Americans in Germantown.
Our vision is to have a - based, Christ - centered, Holy Spirit - led, and Mission - minded church that isan integral and influential part of the Germantown community. We impact lives through the power of the Holy Spirit by preaching, teaching, making disciples, and demonstrating love.
Our mission is to seek and to save those who are lost, and lead them to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Our ministry flows from the five pillars of the church:
Worship
“God is Spirit and His worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth.”
John 4: 24 (NIV)
Doctrine
“Study to show thyself approved unto God…”
2 Timothy 2: 15 (KJV)
Evangelism
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…”
Matthew 28: 19 (NIV)
Stewardship
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers [and sisters], in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices…”
Romans 12: 1 (NIV)
Fellowship
“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing…”
Hebrews 10: 25 (NIV)
Our vision,mission , and ministry, based on the authority of Scripture, will:
Lift high the name of Jesus. (Acts 4: 12; Phil. 2: 9 – 11)
Teach people the Word and will of God. (Matt. 28: 19)
Build relationships that are healthy and healing. (Col. 3: 1 – 17)
Be mission – minded in all that we say and do, to help those in distress. (Galatians 6: 1 – 10)
To God be the glory for the great things He has done, is doing, and will do in the life of Mt. Zion Baptist Church of Germantown and its members.
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About Us