St. Paul Believers Holiness Church of Rochester New York, Inc.
Established in 1956
St. Paul Believers Holiness Church was originally a Church of God in Christ, located at the corner of Rhine and Hanover Streets in Rochester, New York.
In the year of 1956, God moved on the heart of Deacon Henry Smith Sr. to start a Church of Believers. This church mirrored the faith that he and others from the Bloomingvale section of Andrews, South Carolina, shared in the Believers Holiness Fellowship. After praying and searching he contacted Rev. Watson, Sister Ruth Chatman, Sister Lela Session and Deacon Benjamin, who gave consent and St. Paul Believers Holiness Church was established. Rev. Watson continued as pastor of the new denomination which was later followed by Rev. Davis from Ohio, Rev. Watson and Rev. Eugene Dukes.
After many hardships, trials and tribulations, Deacon Smith finally got the church built up with the help of his brothers and sisters in Christ. As the church grew there soon became a need for larger quarters. Deacon Smith decided to look for a larger Place to accommodate the congregation for worship services. This posed another hardship, but after many months of struggling and praying, our present building, a former factory, was located. Not long thereafter, Rev. Dukes decided to change his fellowship and was replaced by Rev. White, who served faithfully as pastor for two and a half years.
Rev. Thomas H. Wilcox became our next pastor (1963-1979). He served as pastor faithfully for sixteen years until God Called him home. Under his leadership, we purchased the old factory building and two houses that were next to our building for future expansion. Rev. Wilcox introduced new ways of raising funds and inspired his congregation to give in order to have a Beautiful place of worship. He was always first to pay assessments, instituted the Blessed Box and a Giving Letter. He lived long enough to see the renovation construction begin, but not its completion. Also, under his leadership, many souls came to Christ, and we held our first Missionary Convention in N.Y. State. Rev. Abraham Parker had served as Assistant Pastor to Rev. Wilcox.
The Missionary Board was officially organized with officers and the New York State Missionary Department was established with its first president: Sister Carrie Greggs. We became incorporated officially with The State of New York being known henceforth as “St. Paul Believers Holiness Church of Rochester, New York, INC.” The Young Adults Group was organized (1978) under the leadership of Deacon Randolph Smith and is still instrumental in providing scholarships for our college students. The annual Scholarship dinner has helped college students throughout the years.
Rev. Abraham Parker served as Assistant to Pastor Wilcox and was appointed as pastor in 1979 and served faithfully until he retired in 2008. His staff consisted of Assistant Pastor the late Carrie N. Greggs, (1979-2003) and Youth Pastor Lloyd White. In 2005, Youth Pastor White started a new ministry. Pastor Parker continued Rev Wilcox’s lead in making sure that our ministry grew, and renovation continued until completion. We expanded our sanctuary, added a Fellowship Hall, kitchen, an upper level office, including a Pastor’s study, Officer’s Quarters, Baptismal pool and Sunday school rooms in the lower area.
Under his leadership, we also purchased several buildings near our location for expansion. One became part of the Parking lot; one is presently used as a Missionary Facility and the other is being used to store furniture to support our Out-Reach Program. Our Missionary department consists of jail and furniture ministry, visiting and praying for the sick, and provides food for the needy in our community.
Our Credential Committee was established 1994 for the purpose of licensing/ordaining ministers, deacons and teachers. During the twenty-nine years served by Pastor Parker the annual Community Festival was established. Four new fellowships were birthed from the mother church. In September 2008, our former District-Elder Abraham Parker retired as pastor of St. Paul. The Deacons kept in contact with Rev. Parker for guidance in making decisions as long as he was able.
A committee was formed to seek out a new leader which led us to the installment of Pastor Stephon P. Donaldson. Rev. Donaldson was installed in December 2010; he served as Pastor until January 2013. Under his leadership we instituted the Church’s first New Discipleship class 101, Maturity class 201, revamped the Youth ministries, and technically has taken St. Paul into the21 st century with our new Audio/Video ministry, also launching the church’s first website and with his guidance we have joined the social media ranks through Facebook; Leading the way in the acquisition of 59 Thomas Street for future building. Pastor Donaldson left the ministry and some of the ministers and members joined him in the birthing of a new ministry.
Since 2013, in absence of a Pastor, the Deacon Board, Madison Nesmith, chairman and the Ministering Staff continued proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. On May 24, 2015 we welcomed our new Pastor Daniel Fluellen, Sr. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit; Pastor Fluellen has restructured weekly bible study by incorporating different methods of teaching, ice breakers and bible study handouts. The ice breakers are stories activities, religious supplements that are customized for each of the biblical instructions.
In January 2017, the church came together on one accord with the Lord God to have sanctuary remodeled. In February 2017, through prayer, Pastor Fluellen envisioned that the cost of each of the church pews should be donated by the members. Many of the members made the pledge to do so. By May 2017, we were successful in getting most of the pews paid for in full. Many of the St. Paul men came together to make a lot of the necessary repairs to the church sanctuary that added in making the renovations possible. Overall, none of this would have been possible if the Lord God Almighty had not allowed it to be possible.
Our goal is to continue to win souls for Christ by developing our spiritual selves and to pros'per as our souls prosper so that we may be a blessing through continued service to our community. May God Continue to bless our staff, officers, and congregation as we work towardthe physical and spiritual upkeep of God’s Kingdom.
Finally, we pay tribute to those members who worked so faithfully throughout the years that we have been in fellowship. Some are not able to be active in fellowship due to illness or other hardships. Others have gone from labor to reward; we are truly blessed to be a congregation that is “ALIVE AND WELL.” Truly we have come through these years by FAITH.
GOD BLESS!