First Baptist is Brooklyn's Advocate: Gentrification threatens, and First Baptist campaigns.
Written by Laya Hartman
After a rainy, Sunday morning Service. Photo taken by Laya Hartman.
The First Baptist Church of Crown Heights is a church like none other. The Church lies on the border between two districts in Brooklyn, NY– the North District 8 and the South District 9. Despite the dividing line between the two districts, the church forges common ground as it unites Africans who migrated from the Caribbean and African Americans who migrated north from the Great Migration. The divided land the church lays on transcends into the political agenda the church upholds, as their mission as a church is not only to spread the word of God, but fight for political issues that affect the community.
Founded in 1953, First Baptist started as 20 men and women sat and prayed in Sister Ethel Brown’s home in Williamsburg. About a month later, they ordained their first pastor, Reverend Dr. Clarence Norman Sr. Almost 70 years later, in 2019 First Baptist ordained their third pastor, Brooklyn native Reverend Rashad Raymond Moore.
The traditions that First Baptist upheld in the mid to late 1900s, such as not allowing women in the pulpit, do not apply to the church today. Betty Butler, Chairman of the Board of Directors at First Baptist recalls that when she first started attending First Baptist, women were not allowed to have leadership roles in the church. Betty said “That changed maybe about 10 years after I started attending, and the pastor, the founding pastor, you know, started welcoming women in, in the pulpit to preach.” When asked about whether the church has become more progressive over the years, Butler said the church has become more progressive and this has a positive effect on its members.
Front of First Baptist Church of Crown Heights. Photo taken by Laya Hartman.
Gentrification forces many locals in Brooklyn out of their homes due to increased rent prices, causing a shortage of affordable rental housing. The population of black people in Crown Heights has decreased by almost 35% in the past 20 years (NYU Furman). The First Baptist Church of Crown Heights has seen gentrification affect many members of the congregation and the community.
Moore, Senior Pastor of First Baptist, said “right now we're kind of engaged in a full-on campaign, uh, to pressure the governor to turn over state-owned property into affordable housing.” To Reverend Moore, right along with preaching the Word of God, comes an initiative for the congregation to get out in the community and fight for affordable housing.
On Thursday, First Baptist took 20 members to New Jersey as part of an organization called East Brooklyn Congregations. Moore said “The Governor of New York has the power to sign off and dedicate any or all state-owned sites to affordable housing.” Their mission is to fight these laws and pressure the Governor to not sign affordable housing to developers who destroy the pre-existing buildings for modern, unaffordable highrises.
One of the members who traveled to New Jersey, Tiffany Johnson, saw other churches in Brooklyn and Queens attend the meetings to fight for affordable housing. Johnson said “We need to make sure that we have affordable housing where the church is decided in that, you know. So that we don't have to travel far to come to church.” Johnson is very supportive of Moore and his mission for the church. She said “So he's looking out for not only us as the congregation, but all New Yorkers. Everyone, not just, you know, who goes to First Baptist, but New Yorkers in general. We need affordable housing.”
With such a strong Church initiative in public policy, a topic not directly related to the teachings in the Holy Bible, one may question if this attention to affordable housing benefits the spiritual souls of the congregation. To Reverend Moore, the congregation having a tangible, personal issue to fight is necessary. “I do believe that so many churches in our neighborhoods are sleeping giants and they don't preach relevant messages. The people are uninformed and if you're uninformed and you're disengaged the next thing that's gonna come is hopelessness and then from hopelessness becomes despair and the worst thing of all is nihilism where people just lose a sense of meaning in life.”
Not only is this congregation at First Baptist willing to put themselves out there and try something new, but Moore also believes that the political aspect of the church gives the congregation a means to use their voices for good. “If the church doesn't do it, if the church won't engage, then she will never find a voice. And in that moment, if the church can do anything but remind you that you are not just one person living in a world where nobody cares.”
