Marathon church marks 100 years

A centennial anniversary is a big deal. That’s why St. Paul A.M.E. Church, the oldest church in Marathon, is hosting a celebration Saturday.

The Rev. Larry White said the community is invited to a spiritual service on the property at 208 41st St. bayside beginning at 3 p.m. Dinner will follow along with the unveiling of plans for a new fellowship hall and parking lot. Church officials hope the expansion will increase services for children and senior citizens in the community.

“Our main thing is we want people to come to know Christ,” White said, adding that the church’s neighborhood, from 40th to 42nd streets, has been known as The Rock through the years.

The church land was donated for St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal in 1916 by the Rev. Nathaniel Clark with the Rt. Rev. John Hurst, then presiding bishop. The church began as a wooden structure and was the first school for black children in the neighborhood. In 1954, part of the land was sold so the church could rebuilt with concrete. Since then, minimal changes have taken place in terms of the building itself, White said.

The congregation is small and there is no choir, although White hopes for one following the expansion and increased outreach.

White has served two terms with the church, the first from 1987 to 1994, then returning in 2010. “When I came back, it was like the church was really down. There was something like five members,” he said.

So he began commuting more often and made Sunday service weekly instead of biweekly, which had been tradition. The church has increased in membership by 20 to 25 people.

White commutes from Miami four times a week in addition to Sundays and considers himself a full-time pastor.

Since 2013, the church has organized Relay for Christ, an annual event on Good Friday where members of several area churches take turns carrying a large cross for a few miles along U.S. 1.

Also, White said St. Paul A.M.E. Church hosts Revival Fire Fall along with other churches, inviting ministers from Miami and throughout the Keys to come and preach for a weeklong event in late September.

White has plans for the church’s next 100 years. He said he’d like to see church membership grow, especially among younger members, and services increase for senior citizens and the homeless. He’d also like to see 208 41st St. be named a historical site, considering its history.

“We’re not going anywhere. We’re going to be around for the next hundred years,” he said.

Sunday service is held at 11:30 a.m.

This story was originally published August 17, 2016 at 9:40 AM with the headline "Marathon church marks 100 years."