MEMORIAL'S HISTORY
THE GENESIS
Founded November 10, 1935, Memorial Baptist Church is celebrating its 90th year as a beacon of Christ in community of Harlem and the world at large.
As stated in our Constitution, Memorial's mission is to give visible form to the mission, faith and fellowship to which God's people have been called. We acknowledge ourselves to be a local manifestation of the universal Church, in and through which Jesus Christ continues to minister to the world, through the power of God and the influence of the Holy Spirit.
Memorial was organized by Abyssinian Baptist Church’s Rev. Dr. Winfred Williard Monroe, a small band of Abyssinian disciples and the un-churched of Harlem. We began our historic trek during the great Depression when some said it was ludicrous for anyone to start a church. Rev. Monroe made it clear that the decision to organize was by Divine inspiration.
In written reflections of Memorial’s founding entitled “The Historical Spiritual Romance of Memorial Baptist Church,” Rev. Monroe spoke about attending a Thursday night group called “The First Century Fellowship.” There he discovered the need to be still and to have God speak to us even as we speak to God.
God spoke to Dr. Monroe saying, “I give you the blueprint. Follow the plan. Make a list of all the families you serve at funerals and weddings, who have no active enlistment in church membership. Start your services in November. Notify each of them, and others….(with) whom you come in contact, who are not affiliated with any church. You are not to approach anyone who is a member of any church. Your congregation must come out of the harvest field where there are many.”
Rev. Dr. Monroe was known as “Harlem’s funeral preacher.” He was also one of the first Blacks to serve as Chaplain of the city’s prison board. The bulk of Memorial’s disciples were those whose lives Rev. Monroe had touched through his eulogistic eloquence and sensitive support for the marginal of our communities. Memorial was organized by a people’s pastor and has been -- from its start -- the people’s church.
In 1940, after having been domiciled above two funeral homes, the church moved to its present location. Memorialites rolled up their sleeves and liquidated the $40,000 mortgage in 1952.
A powerful preacher, and thoughtful theologian, Rev. Dr. Monroe started a radio broadcast, as well as a church newsletter. Memorial became known for elegant, formal banquets and cotillions. The church was a magnet for musicians from clubs, concert halls, and the Broadway stage. But it always remained a church for “the people.”
After 36 years of committed service, in 1971, Rev. Monroe said farewell to the church and the community which he loved so dearly.
OUR MIDDLE PASSAGE
During the next three years after Rev. Dr. Monroe's passing, the congregation empowered the Deacon Board -- under the leadership of Deacon Eddie Phillips -- to coordinate the Church’s day-to-day activities, maintain the membership, and select a new pastor.
The Rev. Dr. George Pullman Polk was named Memorial’s second pastor in 1973. A clinical pastoral supervisor, Rev. Polk brought a healing grace and strong focus on Bible Study. He facilitated development of a mid-week Bible Study, daytime prayer meeting and renovation of the church sanctuary. Rev. Polk frequently invited a young preacher from the St. Paul Baptist Church to assist him in the teaching of seminars and to preach once a month. That young preacher was the Reverend Preston Robert Washington.
When Rev. Polk resigned in Spring 1976, he strongly recommended that Memorial name Rev. Washington to be the Third Pastor. The members confirmed Rev. Polk’s recommendation. In August 1976, Harlem native the Rev. Preston R. Washington was elected pastor.
OUR NEHEMIAH BRINGS A NEW VISION
Our third pastor, Rev. Preston Robert Washington brought great energy to Memorial. A building fund was established for the purchase of parsonage in New Rochelle. The church supported the fund enthusiastically. The 10-year mortgage was burned three years ahead of schedule in 1981. Continuing in a building mode, Memorial gained ownership of the two buildings adjacent to the church, at 135 West 115th St. and 100 St. Nicholas Ave. In an educational mode, the church supported the Pastor’s pursuit and earning of his doctorate from Columbia University Teacher’s College.
In 1982, Dr. Washington led the congregation to address the controversial issue of the ordination of women for the preaching ministry, the Diaconate and for Trustee service. The congregation embraced the vision and codified its support for women in leadership in Memorial’s first Constitution, formerly adopted in 1983. Since that time, women have been empowered to serve as Trustees and Deacons, as heads of both ministries, and as Church Treasurers. Rev. Dr. Mariah Britton was the first woman to be ordained to the Gospel Ministry at Memorial, and in 2004, we became the first major, established Baptist Church in Harlem to name a woman pastor, Rev. Renee Frances Washington.
In the mid-80’s, Memorial saw an opportunity to minister to the many young families in the community broken by the scourge of poverty, drug abuse, and the then-new disease known as AIDS. Dr. Washington envisioned a first-class residential facility for such families. For ten years, each Palm Sunday service ended with a congregational walk to an abandoned, burned-out building at 205 W. 115th Street. In 1995, the congregation, through Memorial Community Services, garnered the support of the NYS Homeless Housing Assistance Corporation to develop the House of Hope for single parents and their children at a cost of $1.4 million. Memorial’s policy is, and always has been, that the church must address the needs of the homeless and particularly, battered women and their children.
We take care of the community, and of the house of God.
In December 1997, Memorial liquidated a loan of more than $500,000 for full-scale renovations of the sanctuary through the American Baptist Extension Corporation (ABEC loan). The overall renovation plan cost well over one million dollars. This included a total renovation of the sanctuary, new bathrooms, a new kitchen, stained glass windows, and much more. The Fellowship Hall was named the W.W. Monroe Fellowship Hall, for our organizer. A cornerstone was also placed in his honor.
As God had provided a blueprint for Dr. Monroe 60 years before, he gave Dr. Washington a blueprint called “Vision 2000” in the late 1990s. Based on Revelation 21:5 “Behold, I make all things new…” Dr. Washington launched a full-scale congregational development plan enhancing major ministry areas.
In 2000, Dr. Washington was named a Bishop of the United Church Fellowship, mentoring young ministers and pastors throughout New York. Memorial continued to grow, building both a national and international reputation, and attracting worshippers including Oscar-winning actors Cher and Marisa Tomei, Tony winner Melba Moore, Grammy winner Cissy Houston, Motown legend Martha Reeves, and hip-hop/rap stars like Naughty By Nature and 50 Cent.
Bishop Washington moved from labor to reward on June 25, 2003, leaving a legacy of excellence and a blueprint for growth.
A NEW VISION
On October 17, 2004, Rev. Renee Frances Washington, who had faithfully served as Executive Pastor, was installed as Senior Pastor. She continued building on the blueprint left behind by her husband with powerful preaching, teaching and outreach.
The Lord has given Pastor Renee, as she is lovingly known, a vision that “the church be strengthened.” To that end, within her first year, she started an intensive study of The Purpose-Driven Life, attended by more than 100 disciples; restructured the prayer group, renaming it P.U.S.H (“Pray until something happens"), increased ministry to our young people, and licensed Sister Pamela Smith as a Minister of the Gospel. The church has continued to attract and minister to diverse populations, extended its outreach through social media, was a center of healing during the COVID pandemic, and has become a lead church in the United Missionary Baptist Association. Pastor Renee was elected UMBA’s first female moderator in 2024.
In July 2025, the Rev. Dr. Renee F. Washington Gardner became the first woman to preach at the National Baptist Convention. In October 2025 – as she celebrates her 21st Pastoral Anniversary – she will be inducted into the Empire Baptist Missionary Convention’s Hall of Fame, receiving the Dr. Calvin O. Butts III Trailblazers in Ministry award.
Pastor Renee and the Memorial family remain committed to the work of building a strong and vibrant congregation where all disciples take seriously Jesus’ commandment that we become disciple-makers. With God’s help, we reach out to those disenfranchised, marginalized, in crisis, and simply needing to experience the love of God through Jesus, the Christ.