[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 117 (Monday, September 8, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1687]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   150TH ANNIVERSARY OF BELL AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL ZION CHURCH

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                         HON. MICHAEL P. FORBES

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 8, 1997

  Mr. FORBES. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in this hallowed Chamber to ask 
my colleagues to join me in offering praise and congratulations on the 
150th anniversary of the Bell African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, 
in Center Moriches, Long Island.
  The humble beginnings of the Bell AME Zion Church can be traced to 
1840, when a small prayer group of faithful friends gathered in the 
homes of family and neighbors to practice their faith. Born a slave in 
1808, Abraham Perdue demonstrated the foresight that made him a 
successful businessman by initiating the effort to create for the local 
African-American community their own church.
  With the help of his brother Harry and friend Harry Howard, they 
purchased property on what is now Railroad Avenue in Center Moriches. 
For the amount of $400--a vast sum for the time--the African-American 
community erected the small church, began services, and the little 
congregation flourished, experiencing the human joys and sorrows that 
visit us all. They baptized their babies and married their spouses 
inside, and buried their loved ones in the cemetery in back.
  After an original affiliation with the African Methodist Conference, 
in 1897 the congregation elected to join with the African Methodist 
Episcopal Zion Conference. In this era in its history, less than 10 
years since Abraham Perdue passed away, the congregation was held 
together thanks to the efforts of Sister Mary E. Bell. Following her 
death in 1920, church members immortalized Sister Bell's lifetime good 
work for the Lord by naming the church the Bell AME Zion Church.
  Faced with declining membership, Bell AME Zion ended weekly services 
in 1914 and remained closed for several years. But an invigoration of 
African-American emigrants from the South, seeking jobs at local farms, 
allowed the church to reopen its doors in 1922, and the African 
Methodist Conference sent Rev. William E. Wright to serve as pastor. 
Five years later, a board of trustees was appointed and much needed 
renovations and repairs were made to the church.
  By 1932, the church members again chose to affiliate with the African 
Methodist Episcopal Zion Conference and Pastor Rev. Elliot S. Travalee 
began an aggressive effort to expand the congregation and church 
building. Ground was broken on the addition in September 1954. Since 
then, Bell AME Zion Church experienced phenomenal growth, as the 
suburbs of New York City received millions of new residents. With 
growth came the blessings of a new Sunday school, the purchase of the 
church organ that is still used today and the creation of Christian 
Education classes. By 1990 a building drive was started for the many 
needed renovations to this vital and growing church.
  Mr. Speaker, our churches, temples, and mosques are the true 
cornerstones of our communities, the bedrock on which our faith, 
values, and sense of purpose rest. With the faith and good work that 
makes their Christian community so vital, the Bell African Methodist 
Episcopal Zion Church has overcome times of want and despair, and today 
flourishes as a proud beacon of spirituality. We are proud and blessed 
to count this wonderful church as an important cornerstone of our Long 
Island community. May God continue to bless their work for another 150 
years and beyond.

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