OCALA, FL (352today.com) – Mt. Moriah Baptist Church in Ocala has a long and storied history, dating back to 1867. However, it’s not just a house of worship, but also a place of remembrance and cultural heritage.
Mt. Moriah was established more than 158 years ago by 93 freed slaves who left the white First Baptist Church after the Emancipation Proclamation. Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist Church was the first Black Baptist church in Ocala. It was known as the “Mother Church.”
It was a vision of previous pastor the Rev. Dr. Lorenzo Edwards that the fellowship build a new facility, said the Rev. Jerry Alexander, who succeeded Edwards as pastor of the congregation in the fall of 2019.
“The church purchased the land back in 1991, and the land was purchased from the Florida General Baptist Convention, Inc.,” said Alexander. “The vision was there but nothing transpired.”
When the church was sold in 2020, the nation was in the deep throes of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The City of Ocala had a proposal to purchase their property, and the church saw opportunity to fulfill that dream to build a new house of worship, said Alexander. The location was bought due to plans to expand parking in the city. Church leaders planned to rebuild using proceeds from the sale. But costs rose faster than they expected, and now they need around $500,000 to complete the process. The church started a GoFundMe page for support.
The thought was the church would be able to start the construction project within three months of the sale, which would’ve basically covered it all, with the exception of a couple of hundred thousand dollars. But the pandemic altered everything, with the supply chain for materials being impacted, people not working, or going out, and companies were not hiring, creating additional challenges. The church didn’t break ground until 2024, and the money from the sale didn’t go as far as it would have in 2020 had the pandemic not transpired.
“Through the process, we learned some things about building, some good things and not so good things,” said Alexander. “And through this process, time ran out, and we needed to find another place to hold services while we completed our place of worship. We are grateful for Moderator Eric Cummings and the Second Bethlehem Baptist Association, which we are part of, to allow us to use the theological seminary, which is owned by the association, for us to have a place to have worship, Bible study, choir rehearsals and so forth. That has allowed us to maintain a stable membership, stable activities while we finish the work that we need to get into our new facility.”
Raising capital to the complete the new church has required innovative thinking to create additional opportunity.
“We’re so close, it may not be 100 percent complete, it will be about 80 percent complete by the time that we occupy the building,” said Alexander. “With the rate of cost, and those challenges to finish the project, Mr. John Livingston came up with the idea of the GoFundMe. We launched the GoFundMe and kind of repackaged the branding of how we were approaching the GoFundMe and are looking for a partnership. We’re looking for faith partners to partner with us, and by giving to help us accomplish this goal.”
Historically, churches have been the center of African American communities. Mt. Moriah Baptist Church is the oldest African American church in the City of Ocala. The church was born out of First Baptist. The founding pastor was Rev. Samuel Small.
It was through the work of the pastor and a small number of people, that Mt. Moriah Baptist Church was initially organized, said Alexander. Small would also go on to organize New Shady Grove Missionary Baptist Church.
“His legacy and what he did is still felt in the community,” said Alexander. “Mt. Moriah is just as big of a part as the history of Ocala as all of our other churches. I would hope and pray that others would see the value of the history and the relationship that Mt. Moriah had in the City of Ocala and Marion County since 1867 until this present time and want to be part of the future of Mt. Moriah by being partners with us to complete the project.”
As the City of Ocala and Marion County continue to grow exponentially, Mt. Moriah Baptist Church has been a formidable presence for nearly 160 years, an anchor within the community, having been in the downtown corridor for a substantial period, said Alexander.
“We can help nurture love, help develop some of our future leaders,” said Alexander. “It’s like investing in the future, when we invest into a ministry and invest into a church. It provides places where we can go to study, and we can partner again with other businesses in the city, where we would be able to teach people a new skill, with everything changing so fast.”