Every Sunday morning, at 122nd and Seventh Avenue, the doors of the Christian Parish for Spiritual Renewal open for all to walk in and experience service.
But this past Sunday was special. The pastor, Rev. Ron Sullivan, 59, delivered the final sermon ahead of the church’s 70th anniversary gala celebration.
“I can say trust in God because I’ve seen people in this church trust in God,” Sullivan said to the congregation. “This little church has gone through a lot. Our doors have faced closing several times, but instead of looking at what we don’t have, we looked at who we did have, and his name has always been Jesus.”
Unlike the larger churches of Harlem, Christian Parish may appear unassuming, but for seven decades has remained an institution. The front doors bear bullet wounds, something members acknowledge is a reflection of how much it has endured.
“It’s a little small church but it’s a dynamic church. You just come in and feel the love,” said Linda Adams, who has been a member since 1961, when she was just eight years old.
Located in the heart of Harlem on Adam Clayton Powell Blvd., the non-denominational church has hosted several celebratory events throughout the year in honor of the anniversary, and will culminate with the gala celebration on Nov. 14 at the Harlem School of the Arts.
Known as a “family church,” four of the legacy families in the church’s history — Rowe, Cunningham, Feimster, and Moses — will be honored at the Celebration, as each was instrumental from the early years and continues to have a presence in the church today. Former City Councilmember Inez Dickens, one of the many Harlem leaders who has spoken at the church, will also be honored.
Church foundation
Under the leadership of the legendary Harlem pastor and civil rights activist Rev. Eugene Callender, the Christian Parish was founded in 1955 as a Harlem denomination of the Dutch Christian Reformed Church (CRC), headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was then known as the Mid Harlem Community Parish and the Manhattan Christian Reformed Church (MCRC). It was formed after leaders noticed an unusually heavy response to the “Back to God Hour,” radio program they hosted.
After arriving in Harlem in the 1950s, Callender began his ministry organizing bible classes in homes and the local YMCA. He initially only served at MCRC for four years before moving to Church of the Master, where he would spend decades before returning to Christian Parish in 1991, but in that short time, he left a lasting mark on the legacy of service and activism that endured after his departure. Organizations that were founded out of the church and its members include the Addicts Rehabilitation Center (ARC), created by Rev. James Allen in collaboration with Callender, Harlem Mothers & Fathers SAVE, from Jackie Rowe Adams, and the Taylor Moses Institute, pioneered by Mirian Moses and Marlene Taylor.
“We’re standing because we’ve been a church of service. We’ve never let our size deter us from having impact,” said Sullivan, who took over for Callender in 2002, during Sunday sermon. He emphasized the importance of churches like Christian Parish showing up to support their community during the current period of SNAP cuts and the lengthy government shutdown. On Thanksgiving, as they do every year, members of the congregation plan to serve meals for the hungry in the dining room downstairs of the building. He further encouraged members to share with him privately if they need food or have been impacted so that they can be provided with resources.
“How are we going to go to Harlem School of the Arts dressed up, having a catered party, and then ignoring that people are hungry right around our church. We can’t,” Sullivan said. “I won’t.”
In the spirit of Harlem preachers like Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and churches in Harlem, Callender had established the foundation for speaking out on important issues and encouraging the congregation to be involved in the community, according to Sullivan.
Callender, who had worked alongside Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders, brought the same mindset to MCRC, as the church organized rent strikes to fight for fair housing.
The lasting imprint of service from church members can be seen on the street corner where it is located, renamed after the late Hermena Rowe, who was heavily involved in the Ladies Service Guild, one of the longest-running ministries of Christian Parish, as well as other communal organizations including HARYOU-ACT, Neighborhood Board No. 4, and ARC. She also worked closely with former Manhattan Borough President Percy Sutton.
Hermena and her husband, Clarence, along with their nine children, became one of the early families in the church in 1955, after being recruited by Callender. Because the ministry owned the building at the time, Callender offered Clarence a job as superintendent of the building, which he accepted. He then moved his family into a larger apartment upstairs on the building’s fifth floor.
One of the Rowe children, Harlem leader and gun violence prevention advocate, Jackie Rowe Adams, 77, carried on her mother’s work and continues to sing in the senior choir. She founded Harlem Mothers and later Fathers SAVE after the gun-related deaths of two of her sons.
“I realized I couldn’t bring them back, so I could help another mother, another family, from feeling that pain and hurt that we felt,” Rowe-Adams said. It was at Christian Parish that she learned about values like love, giving, and saving lives. “Staying involved with our church for 70 years has saved my life.”
The eldest of the nine, Carolyn, and her husband, Clinton Ingram, have also remained heavily involved in the church. Ingram has led the senior choir since the early 1980s. The two met while in education and were married in 1971. Earlier this year, the two recently shared a marriage anniversary with a congratulatory reception. They are the parents of daughter Mariama Sullivan, wife of pastor Sullivan, and son Chinyelu, the lead pianist for the service, who both sing in the senior and gospel choirs.
“When you come in, you come as you are,” Carolyn said about the church, calling it a “close-knit family.”
Carolyn is a graduate of Calvin College, a Christian university in Michigan established by the leaders of the CRC, which several young people from the church had been able to attend through that connection. After Callender returned in 1991, the congregation withdrew from the CRC, becoming the non-denominational People’s Parish, and then finally, the Christian Parish for Spiritual Renewal.
Being non-denominational and welcoming to all is one of the qualities longtime member Mirian Moses appreciates most about the church, where she first came with her husband Johnnie when they moved to Harlem from North Carolina in the early 1960s.
“You don’t have anybody standing at the door to tell you that you’re not dressed properly or you’re not of the right ilk,” Moses said about the church. She recalls making early bonds with James Allen, who was an officer of the church, and his wife, as well as Carrie Godwyn. She soon became a member of the Ladies Guild and has been involved for more than 60 years. Her husband also served on the church Consistory, now known as the Council, serving a prominent role in its leadership before his passing in the 1980s.
Other auxiliary groups over the years have included the Men’s Fellowship, a children’s baseball team, the PLAYAS youth group formed by Sullivan, a junior choir, a praise dance team, and the Rowettes — a singing group made up of Hermena Rowe along with daughters Carolyn and Jackie — who hosted concerts to raise money for church programs.
Looking ahead
As with many churches in Harlem, factors like the COVID-19 pandemic, gentrification, and the changing neighborhood have impacted attendance and membership over the last few years. Additional challenges included multiple floods that forced the church to temporarily close its doors.
The church built out its online presence during quarantine and began streaming service weekly, which has continued regularly ever since. The weekly livestream has become a major element in both maintaining and expanding the ministry and reaching thousands. Jay Smith, 28, grew up in the church and is responsible for helping to build out the church’s online and social media presence, which he now manages regularly. He and his father, Frank, both operate the audio and tech.
“I’ve been a part of this for basically a quarter of a century now,” Smith said. “I never thought I would be in this position to where I can actually give back to the same church that I grew up in.”
“Somehow I landed back here, yeah, in serving God and doing what I can to push out our media presence,” Smith said after a few years of being away from church.
Smith’s family is one of the legacy families through the Feimster name. Listening to Rev. Sullivan’s sermons has been particularly helpful in his life
“It’s a very enlightening experience to me in my own spiritual and emotional growth,” Smith said. “This church has definitely been that place of refuge and safety when I needed it, and so because of that, I want to give back [in] equal measure, if not more.”
Smith is now at a place where he likes coming to church and has felt it has had an impact on his life for the better. He says he understands young adults who may have a “jaded” view of church, especially when their parents made them go, but believes it is part of the process that they go through to eventually want to come back on their own. He is hopeful to see more younger kids in service, as well as participation from members in bettering both the church and the community.
The church has remained active, organizing a Health Street Fair on the last Saturday of June every year for the last 20 years.
“We have been a people-first congregation and that will always resonate with people of any age and any generation,” Sullivan said. “I think that has always and will always keep our doors open.”
One church member recently created a GoFundMe page to support the church in getting new repairs, including a new sign. In the meantime, the anniversary committee, made up of dozens of members, is looking ahead toward the gala celebration.
The event will take place in Dorothy Maynor Hall from 7-11 p.m. More information can be found on the church’s social media.
“It’s a great time to reflect and look back, but it’s an exciting time to humbly look forward and be excited about what God’s getting ready to do while we thank God for what God has already done.”
Christian Parish for Spiritual Renewal celebrates its 70th anniversary Nov. 14 at the Harlem School of the Arts Dorothy Maynor Hall from 7-11 p.m. More information can be found on the church’s social media channels.