To The Leader

While making ready for this historical day, a photo of the old St. Paul C.M.E. Church was located which depicted a 1964 Impala SS Chevrolet.  Who would think 55 years later, a member of St. Paul C.M.E. Church member Odell Simpson would happen to own a remake of that same vehicle and make it possible for us to recapture that look.  Odell has been a member of St. Paul C.M.E. all his life and this was a pure joy for him to participate in this duplication.

St. Paul C.M.E. Church will celebrate a historical milestone 125 years at 3:07 p.m. Sunday, March 17, 2019. The community is invited to share in this Milestone.  History is so important because you can’t know where you are going if you don’t know where you came from. It is very important that we bridge the gap between the younger generation and the old.

Established in 1894, a small group of laymen joined together in worship and decided it was necessary to have a church home.  This group had held church services for quite some time from house to house and later in a building on Fourth Street. This was the beginning of St. Paul Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.

Rev. Gary E. Chalk and 1st Lady Phyllis Chalk are the current 1st family of St. Paul C.M.E.  Church and will lead the membership into this historical moment.

Our theme for the day is Thankful for the Pasto, rejoicing in the Present, Preparing for the Future.

The special guest for this milestone service will be Rev. David Robinson and the congregation from Douglas Memorial C.M.E. Church of Beaumont, Texas.  

The West Orange-Stark M3 Band will accompany the Acts of Praise – Praise Dance Team at St. Paul C.M.E. in a special presentation of “Total Praise”.

Mayor Larry Spears will be on hand to present St. Paul with a special proclamation on this 125th Milestone.

As part of our historical 125th Church Anniversary, we want to capture and preserve a segment of our church history for the Children of this day who will be adults and leaders in the church and the community 25 years now.   We are preparing the contents today and will have a written inventory available, along with a signed scroll and other items that reflect this time in our church history.

We will update our current Church History to reflect that this Time Capsule be opened in 2044, 25 years from the date.  We will prepare all the contents and attach a written inventory. There are a number of young people in our church and we can only hope and pray that they are yet in the church for the opening of this time capsule.    

The actual placement of the time capsule will occur at 11 a.m. on Sunday, May 19, 2019.