GREATER MOUNT PLEASANT A.M.E. CHURCH EMAIL: GMPAMECHURCH@YAHOO.COM Tel: 954-921-5756
2341 Freedom Street Hollywood, Florida 33020, United States
WHO WE ARE
Greater Mt. Pleasant AME Church History 1926-2023
“Upon this Rock I will build my Church, and the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.”
Matthew 16th Chapter and 18th Verse
Greater Mt. Pleasant African Methodist Episcopal Mission Church was founded in 1926, in a home located in the section of town called, “Cole Quarters,” which was positioned on the corner of 23rd Avenue and Hood Street. With the aid of Sisters: Stella Green, Pearl Devine and Mary Campbell, the church was organized under the leadership of Reverend J.C. Butler, and named Mount Pleasant African Methodist Episcopal Church. During that same year, the new church was founded; it was also destroyed by the 1926 storm. Though part of that same old steel structure remains today. With a strong determination to continue, the pastor and the members moved on to worship in a vacant building on that same street. The church membership gradually increased, and with a sizable growth in membership, there was a need for a larger facility. While a new church building was under construction, Sister Sarah Nathan, one of the first converts of Mount Pleasant, invited the church members into her home also located on Hood Street in Liberia.The newly constructed edifice, located on the corner of Raleigh Street and 23rd Avenue was finally dedicated on May 6, 1927, under the pastorate of Reverend A. J. Beard. It was a very neat little white church containing a belfry and bell. The bell was utilized to “sound out” for service time and “tolled” for the decease. The membership of the new church continued to grow and glow. Some of the faithful members included the following families: the Nathans, Browns, Matthews, Cotts, Guiness, Greens, Sanders and Sam families; and other members incorporated were: Emily Birthwright and her children, Mr. Lucky, Mrs. Estella Ray and her adult children, Mrs. Bessie Ray McSwain, Mr. D.C. Washington, Mrs. Emily Tucker, Mrs. Green’s niece, Mrs. Mamie Burke, Mother V. Nathan and her twin daughters, Sisters Martha and Divine, Mrs. Mary Dorsey and Sister Mary Matthew Maddox, who was the founder of the South Broward Choir Union.
