Community invited to serviec
On Nov. 18 at 3:30 p.m., Second Calvary Baptist Church will celebrate its 110th anniversary.
The guest speaker will be the Rev. Robert Brown, of Bible Evangelical Methodist Church, Bristol, Pa. The community is invited.
Back in 1894-1895 — just a few years after the Borough of Hopewell was incorporated in 1891 — a group of Christian men and women met in their homes on Wednesday and Sunday evenings for prayer and fellowship.
In 1897, this group held a revival meeting in Stoutsburg (east of Hopewell). As a result of that revival, a church was founded and was recognized by the New Jersey Council of Ministers. Incorporation followed. The church originally was known as the First Colored Calvary Church of Hopewell, N.J. It was located on First Street in Hopewell Borough. Today’s church members have a list of 12 known gravesites and about 10-12 unknown and unmarked graves at the First Street Cemetery.
The congregation later picked the name, Second Calvary Baptist Church. The building that houses the church today was completed in 1959.
The first pastor, and one of the church’s founders, was the Rev. Thomas Johnson, who came from the South. He served until 1914. From 1914 on, 12 other men served as pastors: Daniel Wooding, Floyd Tucker, Tilman Jones, Frank Carter, James Hurst, J.R. Bowen, John A. Gaines, Olin McGowen, Otha Gilyard, Leland Wilder, Robert L. Owens and William Ingram. Today, the pastor is the Rev. William S. Davis Jr.
The church is located on the corner of Maple and Columbia avenues in Hopewell Borough. For more information, call 466-0862.