The History of Baber A.M.E. Church:

A History of Faith, Perseverance, and Legacy

The history of Baber African Methodist Episcopal Church begins before the congregation carried the name Baber and before its members worshiped at any of the buildings that would eventually become part of its story. Its roots reach back into the nineteenth century, when African Methodism first established a presence in Rochester, New York. In 1837, the Reverend Richard Williams established an A.M.E. society in Rochester with twenty-six members and placed a licensed local preacher in charge. Although little is known about this early society, its existence establishes an important beginning: African Methodists were seeking to create a worshiping community in Rochester long before the congregation that would become Baber was organized.

The historical record preserves the names of at least two pastors who served the Rochester A.M.E. society during this earlier period. The Reverend Charles Henry Green pastored the society from 1872 to 1874, and the Reverend James H. Nichols also served the church. Yet the early A.M.E. presence in Rochester did not remain continuous. By 1906, the society had disappeared. The Journal of Proceedings of the Eighty-Sixth Session of the New York Annual Conference, held at Bethel A.M.E. Church in New York City from June 27 through July 2, 1906, records Rochester once again as “new work.” The African Methodist Episcopal presence in Rochester would therefore have to be renewed.

Nearly half a century later, the circumstances of Rochester made such a renewal increasingly necessary. Between 1940 and 1970, Rochester’s Black population grew dramatically, increasing from approximately 3,000 people to nearly 50,000. Among those who came to Rochester were African Americans migrating from the South, bringing with them their families, traditions, faith, and desire for a church home. For a small group of A.M.E. families who relocated to Rochester, that search initially required leaving the city. For more than a year, they traveled to Buffalo, New York, to attend worship at Bethel A.M.E. Church on Michigan Avenue, the closest A.M.E. congregation available to them.

Their willingness to make that journey is an important part of Baber’s story. They did not simply wait for a church to appear. They traveled, worshiped, and maintained their connection to African Methodism until a new congregation could be established in Rochester. Eventually, a small group began gathering in the city, and what had been a desire for an A.M.E. church became the beginning of a new congregation.

In 1956, Bishop Murray Allen, Pauline Mack, and the Reverend Georgia Hughes began holding church meetings in the home of Reverend Hughes at 25 Herman Street in Rochester. The beginnings were modest, but the determination of those involved was considerable. They actively campaigned for members, and their efforts soon brought others into the fellowship. Mrs. Artie Mae Turner, her daughters Iris and Vivian, and Mr. and Mrs. William Dukes became part of the growing group.

As the fellowship increased in both spiritual life and membership, the limitations of a home became apparent. The group needed a larger place in which to worship, but securing such a place required resources. The members therefore began raising money in one of the most practical ways available to them: they sold food from the small restaurant operated by Reverend Georgia Hughes. Their efforts were not simply fundraising in the modern sense. They were an expression of collective determination. The members were willing to work together to create the church they believed Rochester needed.

When sufficient funds had been saved, the group began renting the Community Hall on Kelly Street. It was during this period that Jacqueline Hokes-Neal, formerly Jacqueline Logan, and her family, along with Mrs. Lacey Slater, joined the determined congregation. The group eventually gave itself a name: True Christian.

The congregation was also moving toward a more formal relationship with the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Bishop Murray Allen sought the assistance of Reverend Harry White, Sr., pastor of Bethel A.M.E. Church in Buffalo, as the Rochester congregation pursued affiliation with the First Episcopal District. The congregation subsequently moved to Ormond Street, where it shared a building and worship services with Salem Baptist Church.

The journey from a living room to a rented hall and then to shared worship space reflected both the limitations and the possibilities of those early years. The congregation did not yet have the permanence that would come later, but it had something equally important: people who were committed enough to keep moving forward.

The congregation’s first organizational meeting was held at 6 Vose Street in Rochester with Bishop George W. Baber. At that meeting, the church received the name by which generations would come to know it: Baber Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church, named in honor of Bishop Baber.

The naming of the congregation gave formal identity to what had begun as a determined gathering of believers. The church now had a name, an A.M.E. affiliation, and a growing sense of purpose. What remained was to find a permanent home.

North Union Street

An opportunity came when Bishop Murray Allen learned that the First Free Methodist Church of Rochester, located at 62 North Union Street, was preparing to relocate. The New York Annual Conference purchased the building on behalf of Baber Chapel for $8,000 on June 12, 1963.

For a congregation that had worshiped in homes, community halls, and shared facilities, the acquisition of 62 North Union Street represented a significant transition. Baber now had a building it could call its own. On August 15, 1963, the congregation held its first worship service there. Reverend Harry J. White, Jr. became Baber’s first pastor and came to Rochester with his wife, Aubrie, and their daughter.

The North Union Street years became foundational to the identity of Baber Chapel. It was the place where the congregation established itself as a permanent institution and where many of the ministries and traditions that would define its future began to take shape. Yet the building would also become the setting for some of the church’s greatest trials.

In 1968, the Conference appointed Reverend John A. Cavers as pastor. His leadership contributed to further membership growth, and during his tenure the congregation paid off the second mortgage on the property. Financial progress and numerical growth were signs of an institution becoming increasingly established.

But 1968 also brought tragedy in the form of fire.

In the fall of that year, a fire damaged the rear of the edifice and the basement. No one was injured, but the damage extended beyond the physical structure. Important church records were lost. For a congregation that was still building its institutional identity, the loss of records meant the loss of part of its collective memory.

Reverend Cavers served until 1970. That same year, the Senior Usher Board was established, adding another enduring ministry to the life of the congregation.

The following year brought another period of transition. From 1970 to 1971, Baber Chapel was without a pastor, and Reverend Dr. Henry Mitchell was appointed overseer. Dr. Mitchell helped keep the congregation moving forward by arranging for several young ministers from Colgate Divinity School in Rochester to serve as interns. Among them were Reverend John H. Dixon, Reverend Louis-Charles Harvey, Reverend John D. Jones, and Reverend John Bright Jr.

Their presence ensured that the congregation continued to worship and minister even during a period without a permanent pastor. In 1971, Reverend John D. Jones was appointed pastor, and under his leadership the congregation experienced further spiritual growth. He served until 1976.

The congregation was also investing in its children. In 1973, Baber established its first Young People’s and Children’s Division, known as the Y.P.D., with Sister Carolyn Bailey as director. Under her leadership, the Junior Ushers and Girl Scouts were also established. The church was not simply trying to preserve what it had inherited; it was preparing the next generation to become part of its continuing story.

Through the Fire

The year 1976 brought another devastating fire to Baber Chapel.

This time the damage was far greater. The entire building suffered either fire or smoke damage, and the church became uninhabitable for several weeks. As firefighters battled the flames, the beautiful antique stained-glass windows were shattered. The physical damage was severe, but the effect on the congregation was even more difficult. Membership declined, and only a small group of dedicated members remained to struggle to keep the Baber Chapel family together.

It was a period when the future of the congregation could easily have seemed uncertain.

Yet the members remained faithful.

During the restoration, Brother Benjamin McBride, a member of Baber Chapel who served as Head of Security at the Educational Opportunity Center in Rochester, made it possible for the congregation to hold services at the EOC building. That temporary arrangement gave Baber a place to worship while its own building was being restored.

The church was wounded, but it was not abandoned.

Reverend Raymond Pennerman was appointed pastor in 1976 and provided the leadership necessary to guide the congregation back into its home at 62 North Union Street. The return to the restored building represented more than the completion of repairs. It was evidence that the congregation had survived another attempt by circumstances to disrupt its life.

In 1978, Reverend Bealie Stancil was appointed pastor. His leadership brought renewed attention to the organizational and financial life of the church. Official Church Board meetings were organized and refined, and the church’s finances improved substantially. The Stewardess Board was rededicated, and white vestments and head coverings were added for sacramental services.

The congregation was not merely recovering from its past. It was becoming more organized for its future.

That progress reached an important milestone on August 5, 1979, when Baber celebrated the burning of its first mortgage. The theme of the celebration was “Through It All.” Those words carried a significance far beyond the financial accomplishment itself. The congregation had experienced fires, lost records, diminished membership, temporary displacement, and uncertainty. Yet it had continued.

The mortgage burning gave physical expression to a truth the congregation had already learned through experience: difficult seasons could alter the church, but they did not have to end it.

A Vision Beyond North Union Street

When Reverend Dr. John H. Dixon was appointed pastor in 1981, Baber entered another transformative period. Reverend Dixon brought extensive academic, professional, and community experience to the congregation. He held a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Lincoln University, a Master of Divinity from Colgate Rochester Divinity School, a Master of Social Work from Syracuse University, and a doctorate from Colgate Rochester Divinity School. He had also completed clinical pastoral training at the University of Rochester Medical School.

His professional experience extended beyond the church. In 1979, he had been selected as an HEW fellow and served in Washington as an administrative assistant to the late Patricia Harris, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. After returning to Rochester, he became an assistant professor of Community and Human Services at Empire State College. He was a co-author of the First Episcopal District’s historical review of 200 years of African Methodism and served on the boards of several Rochester organizations. He also coordinated Jesse Jackson’s presidential campaigns and was a candidate for the New York State Assembly in 1982.

At Baber, Reverend Dixon became known as a visionary.

He believed that the congregation had outgrown 62 North Union Street. The issue was not simply the size of the sanctuary. Reverend Dixon envisioned a church whose ministry could extend further into the surrounding community. He began looking toward a larger facility that could accommodate the congregation and provide room for expanded ministry.

His vision centered on the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church at 550 Meigs Street. The New York Annual Conference was again petitioned, and Bishop Richard Allen Hilderbrand and Presiding Elder Vernon Lowe became instrumental in arranging financing for the purchase.

There was a sense of continuity in the transition. Bishop Hilderbrand was not unfamiliar with Baber’s financial history. As a trustee to the Conference, he had helped secure the original mortgage when Baber purchased 62 North Union Street in 1963. Nearly two decades later, he would help facilitate the congregation’s move into its next chapter.

On May 25, 1982, the purchase of 550 Meigs Street was completed for $250,000. The property at 62 North Union Street was sold for $100,000.

The move itself became one of the defining moments in Baber’s history.

On June 20, 1982, led by Reverend John H. Dixon, the congregation walked en masse from its former home to 550 Meigs Street. The congregation was not simply changing addresses. It was physically enacting the transition from one chapter of its history to another.

Reverend Dixon’s first sermon in the new church was entitled “A Father’s Love,” based on Luke 15 and the story of the Prodigal Son.

Dedicatory services were held on September 18, 1982. The Right Reverend Richard Allen Hilderbrand, Presiding Bishop of the First Episcopal District, preached and dedicated the new church. At that time, the congregation’s name was officially changed from Baber Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church to Baber African Methodist Episcopal Church.

The name was new, the building was new, and the possibilities were new. But the people who walked into the building carried with them everything they had learned at Herman Street, Kelly Street, Ormond Street, and North Union Street.

A Church That Served

The move to Meigs Street created opportunities for Baber to expand its ministry beyond the traditional boundaries of Sunday worship.

In January 1983, a Head Start program was housed in the basement of the church. The church’s physical space was becoming a place where community needs could be addressed.

That same year, under Reverend Dixon’s pastorate, the Scholarship Committee was organized, with Olivia Eades appointed as its first president. In 1984, as Sister Eades’ responsibilities changed, Reverend Dixon appointed Sister Celestine Thomas to lead the committee.

The Scholarship Committee became one of the enduring ministries of Baber. Its purpose was to assist students attending accredited institutions of higher education while remaining concerned with the development of the whole child. The committee developed creative fundraising events, including an African wedding and a luau, and received support from both the congregation and the broader community.

William A. Johnson, who would later become Rochester’s mayor, served twice as a keynote speaker. By the time of a 1997 article about the committee, more than forty students had benefited from the funds raised. Some of those students remained active at Baber; others moved away but retained their ties to the church.

The story of the Scholarship Committee reveals something important about Baber’s approach to ministry. Education was not treated simply as an individual achievement. It was understood as an investment in the future of families and the community.

That same spirit of community care became visible in another way in March 1991, when Rochester was struck by a severe ice storm. Families without heat and electricity found refuge at Baber. The church once again became what it had been in earlier generations: a place where people could come when circumstances had left them without the resources they needed.

The church’s own circumstances, however, were about to change dramatically.

A Moment of Triumph and Loss

In April 1991, Reverend John H. Dixon reported to Bishop Frank Curtis Cummings and the New York Annual Conference that the mortgage had been paid.  It was a significant accomplishment, particularly given the history of the congregation’s financial sacrifices and its move to a new and larger building less than a decade earlier.  Then, on May 1, 1991, Reverend Dixon died unexpectedly.

The congregation had lost the pastor whose vision had led it to Meigs Street. The man who had imagined a larger future for Baber would not live to see all that the new facility would eventually make possible.

Reverend Ernestine Ward, Presiding Elder of the Buffalo-Albany District of the New York Annual Conference, assumed the role of interim pastor. On June 14, 1991, Reverend Norvel Goff, Sr. was appointed pastor of Baber African Methodist Episcopal Church.

On Saturday, October 26, 1991, Baber held its mortgage burning and cornerstone laying. The theme was “We’ve Come This Far By Faith.” Sister Emma S. Dixon served as co-chairperson of the Mortgage Burning Committee, while Bishop Frank Curtis Cummings, Presiding Bishop of the First Episcopal District, preached the sermon and burned the mortgage.

The celebration carried the congregation through a complicated emotional season. The mortgage had been paid, but the pastor who had led the congregation toward that achievement was gone. Baber nevertheless continued the work.

The congregation would spend the coming years demonstrating that the vision Reverend Dixon had cast for Meigs Street was larger than one pastorate.

Growth in the 1990s

In 1992, Reverend Goff was elected president of the Rochester Chapter of the NAACP, reflecting the growing intersection between Baber’s ministry and civic life. That same year, the church purchased the parsonage and undertook substantial renovations to the worship center. Walls were repaired, windows restored, new ceiling tiles installed, and a new window placed behind the choir loft. The altar rail was brought forward to accommodate communion, a window was installed in the balcony overlooking the narthex, and a new bathroom was added to the pastor’s office.

The women of Baber were also demonstrating their ability to mobilize significant financial resources. On March 28, 1992, they sponsored the first annual Black & White Celebration at the Stouffer Plaza Hotel. The event raised more than $13,000, and Ms. Eunice Grady Blackwell was crowned “Ms. Baber.”

The church’s communications ministry was formally organized in 1992 under Reverend Goff’s pastorate. Sister Shema Bennett (Now Shema Spivey) was appointed to lead the ministry, with Brother Thomas Davis serving as technical lead. The ministry assumed responsibility for the church’s sound system, which had previously been managed by the Director of Music and operated by choir members.

Under Reverend Goff, communications expanded beyond sound and into television. Baber produced a weekly program for Rochester public access television from 1992 through 2001. The church upgraded its sound equipment, including wireless microphones and improvements to the audio mixing console, power amplifier, and speakers. A dedicated audio/video control room was created through the renovation of the balcony.

The communications ministry would continue to evolve with each generation. Under Reverend Marlowe Washington, the church invested significantly in video equipment and produced a twelve-show pilot for Rochester television. Love God More Broadcast, a thirty-minute program, aired on WHEC-TV in January 2009.

Under Reverend James C. Simmons, the ministry would eventually transition fully into digital video capture, sanctuary projection, and livestreaming through Zoom, YouTube, and Facebook. It would also produce Baber Nation News, a weekly digital digest of church and community announcements.

The technology changed, but the purpose remained remarkably consistent: to carry Baber’s message beyond the walls of the sanctuary.

Becoming a Community Institution

The 1990s brought continued institutional growth.

In 1993, Baber hosted the 171st Session of the New York Annual Conference. The church had moved from being a small congregation seeking a place in Rochester to becoming an institution capable of hosting major gatherings of the denomination.

In 1994, Baber established the Baber Center for Economic Development and Social Change. The organization would later obtain its 501(c)(3) status in 2000. The establishment of the center reflected an expanding understanding of the church’s mission. Baber’s concern was not limited to worship and internal congregational life. The church was increasingly interested in the economic and social conditions affecting the surrounding community.

In 1996, Baber purchased the Christian Life Center at 820 South Clinton Avenue. That same year, the Western New York Annual Conference was established from the New York Annual Conference. Bishop Philip R. Cousin, Sr. served as bishop, and Reverend Ernestine Ward became the first woman presiding elder in the First Episcopal District.

In 1997, Baber established the Homework Academy, further extending its concern for young people and education.

560 Meigs Street: A Historic Rochester Residence

In 1998, the church purchased the historic house at 560 Meigs Street, a property that added an important piece of Rochester history to Baber’s growing collection of ministry spaces.  This home was commissioned by Charles C. Meyer, a prominent Rochester businessman and canal-builder, in in 1865.

Meyer was known throughout Rochester for his exceptional craftsmanship in building canal boats. A 1918 Times Union obituary described him as a prominent boat builder and one of the city’s most enterprising businessmen, noting his involvement with leading boat-building firms as well as his later engagement in real estate and public affairs. According to Isaac Trumper and Th. Emil Homerin in “Meyer Family Plot, Mount Hope Cemetery, Rochester, New York,” Meyer also opened his own sawmill in 1883 along the Erie Canal near the intersection of Monroe Avenue and Culver Road.

At the time of its completion, the house at 560 Meigs Street was considered “one of the best houses in the city” (Peck, 526).

A Church with a Wider Reach

Then, from July 25 through July 30, 1999, Baber hosted the 26th Biennial Session of the Connectional Lay Organization of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. The congregation that had once traveled to Buffalo for worship was now welcoming A.M.E. members from all over the world.

By 2001, the church had installed an elevator, built a sound room, and renovated the sacristy. These improvements were practical, but they also reflected the congregation’s continuing commitment to maintaining and expanding the physical resources necessary for ministry.

On January 3, 2005, Reverend Marlowe V. N. Washington was appointed pastor. He preached his first sermon at Baber on Sunday, January 9. During his tenure, he was appointed to the Mayor’s Committee on Parenting and served on the Board of Directors of the Coalition to Prevent Lead Poisoning, Inc.

Baber continued to develop programs for children and families. In the fall of 2005, the church partnered with Nazareth College to establish Ba-Naz, a full-time day camp. Fifty children participated in the program, which operated Monday through Friday.

The same year brought the development of another ministry that would become important to Baber’s identity. In the fall of 2005, Reverend Isabelle Johnson founded the church’s ministry to seniors, known as Keenagers, and secured support from the University of Rochester’s Healthy Living Program. In 2008, the program received a $1,000 grant from the same program and provided aerobics and other activities for its participants.

On September 18, 2005, the Women’s Missionary Society officially changed its name to the Artrie Mae Turner Women’s Missionary Society, honoring one of the women associated with Baber’s founding generation.

These developments demonstrated the breadth of the church’s understanding of ministry. Children needed places to learn and grow. Seniors needed opportunities for fellowship and healthy living. Women continued to build ministries in the tradition of those who had helped establish the congregation. The church’s mission was becoming increasingly comprehensive.

Responding to Violence

Baber’s response to violence in Rochester also became an important part of its history.

After the tragic homicide of church member James C. Slater, who was killed while walking home after attending a community meeting, the Board of Stewards launched the You Bet I Told Initiative on January 5, 2008. For a year, the church placed billboards throughout the Crescent area of the city as part of an anti-no-snitching code project.

The initiative reflected a congregation wrestling with a difficult reality. Violence was not an abstract issue to Baber. It had entered the lives of its own members and families. The church responded by attempting to move from grief toward community action.

That same year, the Baber Center for Social Change and Economic Development was rebranded as Rise Up Rochester, Incorporated. The nonprofit was created to empower the community to establish and maintain a nonviolent culture and to provide support to crime victims and their families.

The organization would eventually become one of the most visible expressions of Baber’s commitment to community transformation.

The Music That Carried the Church

Throughout these decades of institutional development, music remained one of the defining features of Baber’s worship and community life.

At the beginning of that musical story was Jacqueline Hokes-Neal, formerly Jacqueline Logan, one of the church’s original members. She provided music when the founding members worshiped in their homes, continued at the community center, and later served at the church on Union Street. When she was unable to serve, musicians such as Marguerite Noakes, Marie McCloud, Loretta Green, and Marvin Rogers provided instrumentation and accompanied the choirs.

The Youth Choir was featured on WXXI during Sister Hokes-Neal’s tenure. She continued as Minister of Music when Baber moved to its present home on Meigs Street, where Reverend John H. Dixon later appointed Professor William Crimm.

Professor Crimm brought Wardell Lewis to assist him and helped establish musical practices that would influence the ministry for years to come. He taught vocal techniques that members continued to draw upon, and under his leadership the Annual Light of the World Concert was established. Baber musicians also provided vocals for local productions of Porgy and Bess and The Wiz.

Over the years, the ministry developed through the leadership of many musicians and Ministers of Music. Wardell Lewis, Pastor C. J. Rolle, Leonard Beaty, Johnathan Powell, Julius “Maestro” Dicks, our longest tenured Minister of Music who served faithfully for 17 years, and our present Minister of Music, Lewis C. Banks, III served for significant periods. Others, including Wesley Henderson, Curtis McNair, Deborah Cox, Leon Robinson, Phillip Salisbury, and Cary Smith, also provided leadership during various seasons.

The ministry was further strengthened by choir directors and ensemble leaders, including Deborah Bush-Wright of the Young Adult Choir, Brian Williamson of the Male Chorus and Anointed Praise, Mattie Ruth, Kimberly Wescott, and Willie Mae Dubose of the Sunbeam Choir, Dr. Jillian (Dicks) Harrison-Jones of the Voices of Praise, and Yvondria Thomas of the Gospel and Mass Choir.

The individual contributions are too numerous to capture completely in one history. What can be said is that the music ministry planted early roots and generations of musicians continued to water what had been planted. The music became part of the identity of Baber, carrying the congregation through ordinary Sundays, celebrations, difficult seasons, and major moments of transition.

A Church That Kept Speaking

The church’s ministry of communication and its ministry of music eventually intersected with an increasingly public witness. In June 2009, Baber joined Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church, First Genesis Baptist Church, New Bethel C.M.E. Church, and St. Phillip International Church in producing a CD entitled One Voice, One God. The project was led by Minister of Music Brother Julius C. Dicks and administrator Brother Brian Williamson and was officially released on May 15, 2010.

The same period produced another example of Baber members carrying the values and leadership developed within the church into public life. On November 4, 2009, Sister Loretta C. Scott was elected to the Rochester City Council. She later became president of the Council on January 3, 2014.

The church’s story was increasingly intertwined with the story of Rochester itself.

A New Pastoral Era

On June 18, 2010, Reverend James C. Simmons was appointed the fourteenth pastor of Baber African Methodist Episcopal Church.

He inherited a congregation with a long history, significant physical assets, numerous ministries, and a substantial legacy. He also inherited serious financial challenges. His first task was to save the church, its properties, and their contents from foreclosure.

The guiding conviction of his pastorate was drawn from 2 Kings 3:18: “There is nothing too hard for God.”

Under Reverend Simmons’ leadership, Baber stopped the foreclosure proceedings. The church subsequently burned four mortgages, paid its line of credit and other aging deficits in full, and prevailed in its legal matters. The congregation ultimately became debt-free.  Look at God!

For Baber, this represented another significant turning point in its financial history. The congregation that had once sold food to raise money for worship space, that had celebrated mortgage burnings in earlier generations, and that had experienced financial challenges now entered a new period of financial restoration.

The significance of this achievement extended beyond accounting. Financial stability gave the church greater capacity to maintain its buildings, fund its ministries, respond to community needs, and plan for the future.  The pattern that had characterized Baber for generations continued: survival created the possibility for expansion.

A Church That Refused to Close

The arrival of COVID-19 in 2020 created one of the most extraordinary challenges the church had faced in its history.  On March 15, 2020, churches, schools, and businesses were forced to close their doors as the deadly virus spread around the world. Traditional church life was suddenly interrupted. The congregation could no longer gather in the sanctuary in the manner to which it had been accustomed.  But Baber adapted.

The pastor, ministerial staff, Praise Team, and Communications Ministry prerecorded services each week and streamed them through YouTube. Other means of grace were provided through Zoom. The church’s long investment in communications technology, begun decades earlier with sound systems and public-access television, now became essential to maintaining worship and connection.

Baber’s response to the pandemic extended beyond its own congregation. In partnership with the city and county, the church became the first nongovernmental vaccination site in the county, helping make vaccines available in underserved communities. On November 25, 2020, Baber hosted New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s COVID-19 press conference.

Once again, the church’s building became a place of refuge during crisis. Just as Baber had opened its doors to families without heat and electricity during the 1991 ice storm, it now opened its doors during a global pandemic.

On Sunday, August 14, 2022, Baber returned to in-person worship.  The congregation had once again endured a season in which the ordinary patterns of church life were disrupted. And once again, the church adapted without abandoning its purpose.

Leadership Beyond Baber

The history of Baber is also reflected in the leadership its members have provided throughout the wider African Methodist Episcopal Church.

In 1996, churches from Niagara Falls to Kingston, NY separated from the New York Annual Conference and formed the Western New York Annual Conference.  Bishop Philip R. Cousin, Sr. was the bishop and the Reverend Ernestine Ward was the presiding elder (the first woman presiding elder in the First Episcopal District).  Brother Joe L. Thomas, Sr. was appointed the first Superintendent of the Western New York Annual Conference Church School, and Brother Thomas Davis was elected the first president of the Western New York Annual Conference Lay Organization.

 

In 2009, Dr. Charmaine Cohen was elected the 4th president of the Western New York Annual Conference Women’s Missionary Society.  As president, she created the WMS Leadership Academy Training, the Garnett Hicks Wallace Service Award, five emergency care centers, and led a mission trip to Haiti.

 

On May 18, 2019, Robert Isaiah Dubose was elected president of the Western New York Annual Conference Young People’s Division. On October 8, 2021, he was elected president of the First Episcopal District Young People’s Division.  In July 2021, Brother Thomas Davis was elected Director of Lay Activities for the First Episcopal District Lay Organization. Together, their elections marked a significant milestone in Baber’s history: the first-time members of Baber A.M.E. Church were elected to serve as officers at the Episcopal District level.

These positions are part of a larger pattern in Baber’s history. The congregation has repeatedly developed people who carry their leadership into the denomination, the city, and the broader community.

Fifteen Years of Restoration

On Friday, June 27, 2025, Baber celebrated the fifteenth anniversary of Reverend James C. Simmons’ pastorate at a celebration held at the Hyatt Hotel. The occasion marked fifteen years of service and recognized Reverend Simmons as the longest-tenured pastor in Baber’s history.

During those fifteen years, the church became solvent and was able to fund its ministries from its central funds while making significant repairs to its properties. Among those improvements were the replacement of the parsonage roof, replacement of the front church roof, installation of a new HVAC system, and installation of a projection system.

The physical improvements were accompanied by new ministries and renewed areas of emphasis. The Baber Social Justice Commission was created to address policies and issues having an adverse impact on the political, educational, and economic health of the people. Sister Gayle Harrison, Ph.D., was appointed its first director.  An influx of children led to the development of Children’s Church under the leadership of Reverend Alexis Lowers.

The church also placed renewed emphasis on Black history. Its weekly virtual announcements declared, “White History is not default history and black history is more than slavery.” The statement reflected an effort to broaden the way Black history was taught and understood within the church and to remind the congregation that the story of Black people encompasses far more than the history of oppression.

Rise Up Rochester and the Next Generation of Ministry

By 2025, Baber was again looking beyond the immediate needs of its congregation.

The church embarked on an ambitious $1.5 million renovation of a historic structure that would house outreach ministries, including Rise Up Rochester, Incorporated.

The development of Rise Up Rochester represented a remarkable continuation of Baber’s community ministry. What had begun as an all-volunteer effort had blossomed under the leadership of Reverend James C. Simmons and Executive Director Wanda Ridgeway into an organization serving families and young people affected by violence. Its work included support groups for families of homicide victims, a hospital-based intervention program, mentoring groups for at-risk teenagers, and other community initiatives.

The organization’s development demonstrated how an idea born within a church could grow into an institution capable of addressing complex community needs.

The proposed historic renovation therefore represented more than another building project. It was another expression of the same impulse that had led the congregation from Herman Street to Kelly Street, from North Union Street to Meigs Street, and from traditional congregational ministry into increasingly broad community engagement. Baber has repeatedly used its physical resources as instruments of ministry.

A church history can record dates, buildings, pastors, programs, purchases, fires, mortgages, and organizational milestones. But the real history of a congregation is carried by people. Baber was built by people who gathered in a home on Herman Street when there was no established A.M.E. congregation in Rochester. It was built by people who traveled to Buffalo because they wanted to worship within the African Methodist Episcopal tradition. It was built by people who sold food from a small restaurant to raise money for a place to worship. It was built by people who moved from one temporary location to another without abandoning the dream of a permanent church. It was built by people who remained when fires damaged their sanctuary and when membership declined. It was built by people who worshiped at the Educational Opportunity Center while their building was restored. It was built by people who believed that 62 North Union Street could become a permanent home and by others who later believed that Baber had outgrown it.

It was built by those who walked from North Union Street to Meigs Street in 1982. It was built by those who paid mortgages, organized ministries, raised scholarships, cared for children, served seniors, sang in choirs, taught Sunday School, ushered, served on boards, maintained buildings, operated sound systems, produced television programs, and carried the church’s message into the community.

It was built by people who opened the doors during an ice storm and by people who opened them again during a pandemic. It was built by people who responded when violence touched their own congregation. It was built by people who believed that the church could do more than worship on Sunday morning.

Many of those people are remembered by name in the historical record. Others are known primarily through the ministries they helped establish or sustain. Still others may never appear prominently in the written record at all. Yet every generation of Baber has depended upon people whose faithfulness often went unrecognized outside the congregation.

That is the nature of institutional history. Buildings remain, but people make them sacred. Programs have names, but people give them life. Financial milestones can be documented, but behind every dollar raised and every mortgage paid are people who believed enough to sacrifice.

This is the history of Baber African Methodist Episcopal Church.  Not simply the history of a building. Not simply the history of a congregation. It is the history of people who, through changing times and difficult circumstances, continued to believe that there was another chapter to write. And so, after seventy years, the story is not finished. It is being entrusted to the next generation.