The Anniversary Committee, Mt. Zion Congregational Church to Charles W. Chesnutt, September 1922
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FIFTY-EIGHTH ANNIVERSARY
1864 1922 MT. ZION CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH East Thirty-first Street, Near Central Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio. Harold M. Kingsley, Pastor,1 2225 E. 93rd St., Garfield 2918 COMMITTEE — Alexander H. Martin, Chairman,2 F. E. Minter, Secretary, Mrs. J. W. Wills, Mrs. Harriet K. Price, Mrs. J. T. Harney. Dear Friend and Co-Worker:-Mt. Zion Congregational Church sends you greetings, and desires to announce to its members and friends the celebration of its 58th anniversary, September 27th-29th.
Mt. Zion Congregational Church has long stood as a beacon light in the city of Cleveland in the Central Avenue district, making a reputation as an independent and self-supporting church from the beginning, and has been identified with some of the most vital currents of Negro life since 1864, the time of its birth.3 At the present time, we are negotiating for a larger plant, more centrally located, that will cost around $100,000.4 During the past year the church has raised over $10,000, bought a parsonage, automobile and motion picture machine, remodelled and furnished its community house, employed a social worker, and launched a big seven-day-a-week religious program. The membership has increased to 478, a net gain of 180. The attendance at the church services averages about 300.
In the light of these recent accomplishments and of future plans, we sincerely urge you to participate with us in our anniversary. The program will be as follows:
Wednesday night, September 27th, musical and literary program under the direction of the choir. Thursday night, September 28th, first anniversary of pastor and informal reception. Friday night, September 29th, young people's night under the direction of the Christian Endeavor.5
We are asking you to contribute to the financial success of this anniversary in the following way: — either
1. A LARGER PROGRAM DONOR, making your donation ONE DOLLAR or MORE, or
2. ANNIVERSARY DONOR, giving FIFTY-EIGHT CENTS, that is ONE PENNY for each YEAR of the existence of the church. This suggestion is made as a fitting MINIMUM for your offering in this case.
We shall be glad to see you frequently at Mt. Zion and be assured of your assistance as we seek to make her a TEMPLE for all the people, all the time.
Yours for Christ and the Church, THE ANNIVERSARY COMMITTEE.Correspondent: Mt. Zion Congregational Church was one of the first Black churches founded in Cleveland (1864–present). In its early years, it competerd with another church for the Black elites, St. Andrew's Episcopal (a co-founder of which was Chesnutt's relative John Patterson Green, 1845–1940), but was considered the more inclusive of the two. By the early 20th century, new Black churches (Baptist and African Methodist Episcopal) appealed more directly to a rapidly growing lower middle-class and working-class Black community. Attendance at Mt. Zion fluctuated greatly in the 1910s and 1920s, but the church provided a range of social services for the Black community. Chesnutt was not a member (his family attended services at an integrated church, Emmanuel Episcopal Church, beginning in the 1880s) but in the 1920s donated at least twice to their anniversary fundraiser.
1. Harold M. Kingsley (1887–1970) was a Black minister and political activist. Originally from Alabama and with Episcopal roots, he became a Congregational minister in the early 1910s, and headed Mt. Zion Congregational Church in Cleveland from 1921 to 1923, before serving in Chicago at the Church of the Good Shepherd and at the Pilgrim House in Los Angeles, working for interracial harmony. His successor at Mt. Zion was Russell S. Brown (1889–1981), who served there from 1925 to 1933. [back]
2. Alexander H. Martin (1872–1962) was a Black lawyer and Republican politican from Ohio who attended Western Reserve University's Adelbert College and its law school. He practiced law in Cleveland, Ohio, from the 1890s to the 1960s, and served in many community institutions that supported the Black community, including Mt. Zion Congregational Church, the Cleveland Association of Colored Men, and the Cedar Avenue YMCA. [back]
3. Mt. Zion Congregational Church was one of the first Black churches founded in Cleveland (1864–present). In its early years, it competerd with another church for the Black elites, St. Andrew's Episcopal (a co-founder of which was Chesnutt's relative John Patterson Green, 1845–1940), but was considered the more inclusive of the two. By the early 20th century, new Black churches (Baptist and African Methodist Episcopal) appealed more directly to a rapidly growing lower middle-class and working-class Black community. Attendance at Mt. Zion fluctuated greatly in the 1910s and 1920s, but the church provided a range of social services for the Black community. Chesnutt was not a member (his family attended services at an integrated church, Emmanuel Episcopal Church, beginning in the 1880s) but in the 1920s donated at least twice to their anniversary fundraiser. [back]
4. Mt. Zion Congregational Church in Cleveland was originally located on E. 9th St. but in the 1870s moved to E. 31st St. (now Maple St.) and Central Ave., in the midst of the growing Black community. This building was renovated several times, but a fire destroyed it in 1923. The church purchased Temple Tifereth Israel on 55th St. and Central Ave. (formerly home of Cleveland's largest Jewish congregation), less than a mile further East, and was located there into the late 1930s, running many social services for the community before and during the Great Depression. [back]
5. The Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor was a youth organization that was founded in 1881 in Maine. By the early 1900s, it was an international society with millions of members that coordinated many Church-based youth programs, events, and publications. In 1927, it held its annual conference in Cleveland, Ohio. [back]
