Rev. Michael Evans is leading Berean Presbyterian, a 140-year-old church on Broad Street near Diamond, through a time of “transformation and transition.”
“We’re on the cusp of changing,” Evans said. “It’s important because of what’s going on financially and with the ministry service.”
Evans wants to attract young members to Berean, a congregation of mostly people 70-years and older, he said.
“Church is not a top priority,” Evans said. “You find more people in the mall on Sunday than you do in church. You find more people at the football game or something like that. At one time, you couldn’t find anything else open but a church.”
Historically Black churches around Temple are facing declining attendance and deterioration of their buildings. The Temple News asked church leaders and congregants what it will take for the churches to endure through the future.
Berean Presbyterian Church
In 1955, Rev. Benjamin Glasco Sr. and the Berean family bought Bethlehem Presbyterian Church’s building on Broad Street near Diamond. The church has remained there ever since, Evans said.
Between 60 and 80 people attend service at Berean each week, Evans said.
“We have some financial hardships, but we’re optimistic,” said Alison King, Berean’s clerk of session.
Part of the church’s income comes from fundraisers and renting out space in the church, King added.
Temple rents space in Berean for its Pan-African Studies Community Education Program, King said. Temple’s acapella groups, Broad Street Line and Singchronize, also rent space. Other renters include Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services and Narcotics Anonymous.
“We have to be more visible,” Evans said. “We have all this space. We have this resource that God has given us. How do we take this resource and be more functional in the community?”
The church will host a fundraiser, Berean Jazz Fest, on March 21, which attracts hundreds of attendees, Stewart said.
In January, Temple students and community residents gathered in Berean for a reading of Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech, The Temple News reported.
“This church is the best experience that I had, because I got to be a part of so many things that I always wanted to do,” said Margaret Searles, who has attended Berean for 42 years. “And there are so many people I’ve met that I never thought I would meet.”
“There are so many places I have been in the world, but this tops it all,” added Searles, who lives on Duval Street near Morton in Mt. Airy.
Jones Tabernacle A.M.E. Church
Rev. Richard Wright, Jr. founded Jones Tabernacle on 20th Street near Susquehanna Avenue in 1930 after splitting from Morris Brown African Methodist Episcopal Church. This year, Jones will be celebrating its 90th anniversary with a “year of celebration” which includes a series of workshops for community residents and a neighborhood block party, The Temple News reported.
“We’re maintaining [our historical significance],” said John Griswold, Jones’ longest-attending member. “It’s become very difficult because of the size of the congregation. It’s way down.”
Griswold, 91, remembers when Jones Tabernacle had more than a thousand members. Now, membership is less than 200 people, said Rev. Miriam Burnett, Jones’ first female pastor.
Source: Temple News
All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source