In the roughly 75 square blocks that make up the West Grove, at least 14 churches fling open their doors on Sunday morning to welcome parishioners for prayers. One church for every five square blocks. This is only one indication of the important role that religious institutions play in the West Grove.
The first churches opened in the area more than 100 years ago. The original 56 congregants of the Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church worshiped under the direction of the Rev. Samuel A. Sampson, a Bahamian who organized the church in 1894 as the Fifty-Six Baptist Church, after the number of initial members. Christ Episcopal Church, founded in 1901, is today the oldest church in Coconut Grove that still is in its original location. And Greater St. Paul A.M.E. was organized in 1896 under the leadership of the late Rev. J. H. Butler with the mission, still cherished today, to “give thanks to our fore-fathers for the past, celebrate the present, and anticipate greater service to God in the future.”
In addition to their religious work, the churches in the West Grove have historically played a vital role in the fight for social justice and community well-being. Christ Episcopal Church, for example, was the home church of the late Rev. Theodore R. Gibson, a civil rights and political leader who served as city of Miami commissioner from 1972 until 1981.
Many West Grove churches are involved in the annual Goombay Celebration, a month-long event designed to commemorate the Bahamian heritage that so many residents of the West Grove share.
The churches, too, serve a role in providing for the less fortunate in the area by offering meal and shower services for the homeless.
Here is a list of the religious institutions in the West Grove.
Beulah Missionary Baptist Church
3795 Frow Ave.
Founded by the Rev. E.R Ferguson, the Beulah Baptist Church is located in the southwest area of Coconut Grove.
Phone: 305- 445-4970
Affiliation: Missionary Baptist
Church leadership:
Rev. Howard Siplin, pastor
Christ Episcopal Church
3481 Hibiscus St.
Founded in 1901, Christ Episcopal Church is the oldest church in Coconut Grove still in its original location. This was the church home of the late Rev. Theodore R. Gibson, a civil rights leader and city of Miami commissioner from 1972 until 1981. Christ Episcopal participates in the annual Goombay Festival honoring the West Grove’s African-American heritage by providing food to the festivities.
Phone: 305- 442-8542
Email Address: chrepch@aol.com
The Rev. Father Bernard M. Griffith
Affiliation: Episcopalian/Anglican
Church leadership:
Rev. Bernard M. Griffith, pastor
Services: Sundays at 9 a.m.
Other regular activities: Friends and Family Day (celebrated on May 24), a gala, honoring septuagenarians, octogenarians and nonagenarians; Palm Sunday “New Orleans Style” march up Hibiscus Street (April)
Website: http://chrepch.org/
The Church of Christ at Coconut Grove
3345 Douglas Rd.
Founded in 1934, the Church of Christ at Coconut Grove has 120 members and has as its motto, “There are no strangers at Coconut Grove, only friends who we have not met.”
Phone: 305-448-0504
Affiliation: Christian, Restoration movement
Church leadership:
Minister William D. Maddox
Services: Sundays at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.; Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m.
Bible Study: Wednesdays at 7:45 p.m.
Other regular activities: Youth Fellowship, every fourth Sunday
Website: www.coconutgrovecoc.org
The Coconut Grove Church of Prophesy
3655 Grand Ave.
The Coconut Grove Church of Prophesy was founded in 1919 by Bahamian immigrants. It was one of the first churches on Grand Avenue. Today, it is a small church, with 15 devoted congregants, but church leaders recall the days when the doors had to be kept open for everyone to fit in. At one point, the women of the church had a booth on Grand Avenue from where they sold homemade Bahamian cuisine to help support the church. The congregants today are all descendants of the original members.
Affiliation: Pentecostal
Church leadership:
Bishop David Robinson, pastor
Octavia Howell, secretary
Services: Sundays at 11:30 a.m.
Coconut Grove Seventh Day Adventist
3288 Charles Ave.
The Coconut Grove Seventh Day Adventist Church shares a building with the United Christian Church of Christ.
Phone: 305-648-2021
The Greater Faith Temple First Born Church of Coconut Grove
4715 Brooker St.
The Greater Faith Temple is a small, close-knit community of congregants that a Coconut Grove resident describes as “a piece of history.” It provides its members opportunities for both prayer and Bible study.
Phone: 305- 461-1126
Church leadership:
Pastor Dorothy M. Washington, director
Affiliation: Baptist
Services: Sundays at 11 a.m.
Sunday School: 9:45 a.m.
Bible study: Wednesdays at 8 p.m.
Greater St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church
3680 Thomas Ave.
St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church was founded by the Rev. Jeremiah H. Butler and 12 members on April 27, 1896, and was originally known as “the church up on the hill.” It was located on the street now known as Charles Avenue. It has since moved to Thomas Avenue. The church has several choirs, including the Male Chorus, the Mozart Choir, the Sunbeam Choir, the Unity Choir, the Allen #2 Choir and the Youth Choir.
Phone: 305- 448-2742
Email: info@greaterstpaulame.com
Affiliation: Episcopalian
Church leadership:
Rev. Jessie Harvin Jr., pastor
Sister Virginia Harvin, first lady
Sonia Robinson-Scott, secretary
Sister Juanita Smith, financial secretary.
Services: Sundays at 10 a.m.; Wednesdays at noon
Church school: Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
Bible study: Sundays at 7 p.m.
Men’s Bible study: Every first and third Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Prayer meeting: Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m.
Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church Inc.
3151 Douglas Rd.
Founded in 1895, Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church is the oldest black church in Miami-Dade County. The church has more than 350 congregants, including teachers, doctors, attorneys and other prominent business people in the area. To celebrate its 114th anniversary, the church will be having special events throughout the month of October.
Phone: 305- 445-6459
Fax: 305- 445-8389
Church leadership:
Rev. Rudolph Daniels, pastor
Dorothy P. Lee, chairman of the board of directors
Services: Sundays at 7:30 and 11 a.m.
Sunday School: 9:30 a.m.
Prayer/Bible study: Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m.
St. James Baptist Church
3500 Charles Ave.
St. James Baptist Church, founded in 1917, has approximately 150 congregants. It is also the home of the Coconut Grove Ministerial Alliance. A scene from the film Ali, about the heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, who trained in Miami, was filmed at the church. St. James has 10 deacons. The son of Deacon Alston Scott, Winston E. Scott, is a former astronaut who was involved in three space walks.
Phone: 305- 443-4440
Email: stjamesbaptist@bellsouth.net
Church leadership:
Rev. Kenton L. Williams, senior pastor and teacher
Edward Jacobs Sr., Deacon Ministry chairman
Deacons: Charles Collier Sr., Gentle Hamilton Sr., Michael Haynes, Richard Neal, John Pratt, Samuel Prophet, Jimmy Smith and John Sasnett
Ada McKinnon, secretary
Services: Sundays at 7:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.
Bible study: Tuesday nights
Choir practice: Weekends
Activities: The church has a youth choir, a young adult choir, an adult choir and a senior choir. Distribution of food for the hungry on Saturdays at the church. Food giveaways on the first and third Saturday of every month; occasionally trips for youth to sporting events.
St. Mary’s First Missionary Baptist Church
136 Frow Ave.
The St. Mary’s First Missionary Baptist Church, built in 1927, is located in the MacFarlane Homestead Subdivision, a historic district within the city of Coral Gables, and is one of the oldest structures in the district. In his book, African American Sites in Florida, Kevin McCarthy notes that the neighborhood was developed in the 1920s and ’30s, when African Americans were not allowed to live in the wealthier sections of Coral Gables. The church has been under the leadership of the Rev. Zachary W. Royal for 19 years. It is the only African-American church in Coral Gables.
Phone: 305- 443-8166
Church leadership:
Rev. Zachary W. Royal, pastor
Tynikia Borden, secretary
Services: Sundays at 11 a.m.
Choir practice: Sundays following service
St. Matthew’s Community Baptist Church
3616 Day Ave.
St. Matthew’s Community Baptist Church was founded in 1976 by a small group of women using a classroom at Carver Middle School. Eventually, the women moved their church to a house in the West Grove, where the current establishment was built in1990. Since its inception, St. Matthew’s has been a “beacon of light” for the community of the West Grove, having never strayed from its belief that the church is open for anyone, at any time.
Phone: 305- 443-5683
Email: StMatthew3616@comcast.net
Church leadership:
Rev. Willie J. Leonard, pastor
Assistant Ministers
Willie Frankford., Minister of Education
Tracy McKnight, Director of Outreach
Robert Rainey, Youth Pastor
Cory Bembry
Staff:
Diane Graham, Secretary/Clerk
Sister Lillie Blakely, President of the Aid Ministry
Services: Sundays at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. (first, third and fifth Sunday of the month)
Other church functions:
Church School, Sundays at 9:30 a.m.
Deacons Workshop: Every fourth Sunday at 4 p.m.
Trustee Ministry: Every second Sunday at 4 p.m.
Baptist Training Union: Sundays at 5 p.m.)
Mission: Every second and fourth Sunday at 6 p.m.
Usher Ministry: Every second and fourth Monday at 6:30 p.m.
Brotherhood Ministry: Every third Monday at 7:30 p.m.
Teachers’ Planning Meeting: Every Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
Bible Study: Every Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
Youth Choir Rehearsal: Every second and fourth Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
Adult Choir Rehearsal: Every first and third Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
Pastor’s Aid Ministry: Every fourth Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
Intercessory Prayer” Thursdays at 7 p.m.
Outreach Mission & Street Ministry: Every second and fourth Saturday at 10 a.m.
Backyard Bible Ministry: Every first and third Saturday at 10 a.m.
Sweetfield Missionary Baptist Church
3582 Plaza St.
Sweetfield Missionary Baptist Church was founded in June 1936. It conducts a variety of community outreach projects and activities to promote community bonding.
Phone: 305- 448-1308
Church Leadership:
Rev. J.L. Saunders, pastor, on leave
Edmond Stringer, associate minister
Services: Sundays at 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Bible study classes: Tuesdays at 7 p.m.
Choir rehearsal: Thursdays at 7:00 p.m.
United Christian Church of Christ
3288 Charles Ave.
The United Christian Church of Christ was founded in 1952. It occupies a building that is 114 years old, located in the heart of historic Coconut Grove. Its 60-member congregation worships under the leadership of Bishop Dr. Marthenia Dupree, daughter of the church’s founding pastor. Dupree has been the pastor at this church for 20 years.
Phone: 305- 446-1065
Website: www.unitedchristianchurchofchrist.org
Church leadership:
Bishop Dr. Marthenia Dupree
Services: Sundays at 11:30 a.m.
Sunday School – 10 a.m.
Bible study: Mondays at 7 p.m.
Wells Temple
3641 Frow Ave.
Founded in 1925, Wells Temple has 15 congregants who worship under the leadership of only the third pastor in its 84-year history, the Rev. L. David Hardy. When it was founded, Wells Temple was unique for using drums and a piano during its services.
Church leadership:
Rev. L. David Hardy, pastor
Ethel Lovings, Velma Harris and Louise Wilson, deaconesses
Rose Hardy, secretary.
Affiliation: Pentecostal
Services: Sundays at 11 a.m.
Sunday school: 10 a.m.
Pastoral teaching: Tuesdays at 8 p.m.
Prayer and Bible band class: Fridays at 8 p.m. (includes a Bible study, reading of prayers and singing of Bible songs)
The Ministerial Alliance
3500 Charles Ave.
The West Grove Ministerial Alliance, founded in 2000, offers the ministers of its members churches instruction in the areas of service, worship, credentials and church responsibilities concerning the local, district, jurisdictional and national church. The Ministerial Alliance serves the poor by donating and participating in programs to help the community during special holidays such as Thanksgiving, Christmas and Black History Month. Its current President is Kenton Williams, pastor of the St. James Baptist Church, where the alliance has its headquarters.
Phone: 305-443-8166
Email: Kentonregina_wms@bellsouth.net
Member churches:
Greater St. Paul AME Church
St. Matthew Community Baptist Church
Wells Temple
Macedonia First Baptist
St. James Baptist Church (Main)
St. Mary Missionary Baptist Church
Beulah Missionary Baptist Church
Great Faith Temple
The Grand Avenue Directory is a local directory of all businesses, churches and other useful information relevant to Village West. Getting listed is free. If you feel we are missing something, please send us an email to directory@grandavenews.com.
This information was compiled by Sandy Florez, Aaron Goueckauf, Brianna Gracioso, Lauren Gracioso, Jaclyn Gulmi, Eric Hahn, Sarah Hartnig, Ashley Llera, Kathleen Molinaro, Nancy Joan Oben, Lourdes Ortiz, Danielle Peloquin, Erin Simpson, Jacqueline Skevin, Carolina Solano, Antonella Stelluto and Ernesto Suarez
