St. John Primitive Baptist Church had its humbled and courageous beginning 108 years ago when a small group of Christians began meeting in a packinghouse about where our Church stands today.
Deacon Richard Muse, the father-in-law of Mother Jessie Muse, became the leader of the group. He was strong believer in the Primitive Baptist doctrine and had been a faithful member of St. John PBC of Midway, Florida. Several of the former members of St. John of Midway had moved to Delray, thus Deacon Muse, saw the need to establish a Primitive Baptist Church here.
During the year 1914, Deacon Muse continued to encourage the five or six Christians to meet, therefore, St. John was organized. Reverend Henry became the first Pastor. Later during the year, Deacon Muse had to return to Midway, Florida. After his departure, the church became disorganized and the small group affiliated with Mt. Olive Baptist Church.
In 1915, the small group which had formed the nucleus of St. John began meeting again. At this time, Rev. K.D. Davis became the Pastor. Services were held only one Sunday each month at the St. Paul Methodist Church. The members of St. John were desirous of having their own building, therefore, land was purchased from Mr. George Greene to be used as the site for the Church.
Rev. Cromartie was called as the next Pastor. Under his leadership the Church set out to raise funds. Crops were planted, and the Lord blessed the crops and they were bountiful. In 1917, St. John erected its very own building. This little Church was destroyed in 1928 when a disastrous hurricane hit the east coast of Florida. At this time, Rev. J.R. McClendon was the leader of the small group.
Among the old patriots were: Deacon Isaac Bruin, Sister Marth Bruin, Sister Agnes Clem, Mother Clara Collins, Rev. Collins, Brother Alex Edmonds, Brother Harrinson Edmonds, Sister Carrie Greene, Brother Joe Monroe, Brother Jim Muse, Sister Mable Nathan, Brother Sam Robinson, Sister Stringer and Mother Jessie Muse. The flock was determined to restore its building. They began to search for a capable leader to help them. By God's grace, they found Rev. Frazier, a courageous and devout man of God who was equal to the task before him.
Immediately Rev. Frazier organized the small congregation for work. Deriving his ideas and inspiration from God's Holy Word, he divided the congregation into 12 tribes. The children and adults worked unceasingly. Their labor was rewarded, for within a year's time, the Church was rebuilt. This building was located on the corner of NW First Street and Third Avenue. However, before Rev. Frazier could complete the building of a parsonage, he was called to his heavenly home. After the passing of Rev. Frazier, a number of ministers came to lead the flock. Among them were: Rev. T.R. Griffin, Rev. O.V. Therman, Rev. J. Austin, Rev. Henderson, Rev. Davis and Rev. E.S. Bullard, who spent hours working with the young people in the Church.
In 1965, under the leadership of Rev. F.E. Wrease, land was purchased for the site of a new Church. Again, by God's grace, in 1968, Rev. Maurice Gaines, a known builder and devout man of God, came to St. John as the Pastor. The congregation decided to purchase additional land before building. The members continued to work diligently, looking forward to the building of a new Church.
In the Spring of 1972, the foundation was laid for the new Church. When the building was begun, there were lots of criticisms from people in the Community that "It couldn't be done," "The membership is too small," "They will never be able to pay for that Church," etc. But believing that all things are possible with God, the membership put its trust in the Almighty God and its shoulders to the wheel. Side by side, with Rev. Gaines as the builder and spiritual leader, they worked hard. On the fourth Sunday in July 1974, the new Church was done, and the congregation marched from the old Church to the new Church, praising God! With fortitude, courage and determination, the Lord looked down upon them and blessed them. Hallelujah...the mortgage for the new Church was paid off in 10 years.
In 1985, Rev. Eulas Everett was installed as Pastor. Two years later, in 1987, Elder Edward Hayes became Pastor of St. John PBC. In 1992, Elder Major Rollins was Pastor for the next 18 years. During his tenure, Rev. Rollins started the Brotherhood ministry and the Sunday School program grew immensely. In 2010, St. John was blessed as Elder Kenneth D. Duke became our next Pastor for next 9 years. Pastor Duke is the son of Kenneth A. Duke, senior Pastor at New Jerusalem Primitive Baptist Church in Miami, FL and currently the President of the National Primitive Baptist Convention (2022). Pastor Kenneth D. Duke was a great speaker, singer and orator.
In 2022, Elder Isaac A. Lane was called as Pastor of St. John. Pastor Lane comes to us with an enormous amount of organizational skills in the areas of leadership, management and technology. In a short amount of time, he has delivered on his plan of what he wanted to accomplish in his first 90 days by increasing the Youth and Prayer ministries. We welcome Elder Lane, First Lady Samantha Lane and their wonderful children to the St. John Family!
