|
Brief History
History Highlights
In 1954, the Presbytery of North Alabama decided to establish a Presbyterian church for African Americans in north Alabama. Dr. Lawrence Bottoms led a survey committee in identifying Huntsville as an excellent location.
Reverend Ezekiel "Zeke" Bell, a graduate of the Chicago Theological Seminary, was selected by the Presbytery Home Missions Committee to lead the new church. “Zeke,” as he was affectionately called, became the pastor on September 21, 1959. Immediately, he began canvassing the Edmonton Heights subdivision and other Huntsville communities near Alabama A&M College and Council Training School to garner interest in the proposed church and its programs. Initially, worship services were held in his home and later in a rented house until land was purchased at 3406 Meridian Street, and a small church, built largely by volunteer labor, was erected.
The church immediately became a community-involved institution, and membership grew rapidly. Among the ministries of the church during these early years, the nursery-kindergarten is believed to have been one of the first (if not the first) African American church-related pre-schools in Huntsville. Also, Reverend Bell, immersed himself in the desegregation of Huntsville as a respected leader and strategist. The church hosted strategic planning meetings for the non- violent sit-ins and marches of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Other ministers filled the pulpit and led the congregation after the founding minister’s departure in 1966, including Reverend Ernest Newsom (1966-1978) and Reverend Charles Thomas (1979-1984). In 1994 under the pastorship of Reverend John L. Herndon and key planning committees, the first church was demolished and a modern new building, accommodating 550 worshippers in the sanctuary and the balcony, was erected on the same site. In 2010, Fellowship celebrated its first half century of existence. In 2011, it retired the mortgage for the new building. Still a young church at only 52 years old, a few of its original members remain active. Throughout its years, ministries of the church have changed and prospered, and new ministries are in place. With a population less than 300, all members know and interact with each other in a family-of-God atmosphere.
Reverend Gregory Jerome Bentley, having a master’s degree in divinity from the Interdenominational Center in Atlanta, became the fifth pastor of Fellowship Presbyterian Church in 2012. The new pastor’s energy is infusing the congregation as the membership studies the Word and related books and engages in a growing relationship with God.
| 
