Wall Avenue Baptist Church
 
“Even as Christ is the head of the Church: and He is savior of the body.” ~Ephesians 5:23 


 A church being a band of baptized believers in Jesus Christ, may be located in the wilderness or any place in between.
 
  
 
 
 
In the Beginning… The Wall Avenue Baptist Church was originally organized in Ogden, Utah in 1916 as a mission. The red brick bungalow style chapel with a small steeple was erected in 1918 and dedicated in May 1919. This building was purchased by the Utah Baptist State Convention and seated 100 people,  and was located at 2701 Wall Avenue in Ogden, Utah. At a meeting on December 23, 1925, it was decided to incorporate the organization for a period of 100 years.  Bro. James E. Moore was chairman of this meeting and the following officers were elected; Bro. O. H. Parry, President; Sis. Nellie Hamilton, Secretary; Sis. Florida Robinson, Vice-President; and Sis. Bernice Johnson, Treasurer.  The church was officially incorporated on January 5, 1926.  After years of dedicated service from 1918 to 1928, the Clergymen of the Wall Avenue Baptist Church were Rev. A. J. Billing (1917-1919), Rev. H. L. Marque (1919-1920), Rev. John W. Morris (1920-1921), Rev. M. A. Eilonth (1921-1923), Rev. T. L. Washington (1923-1925) Rev. James E. Moore (1925-1927) and Rev. D. D. Banks (1927-1928).  The church was later closed until 1929 when it was reopened with Sunday School classes being conducted by Sis. Georgia Holt.  As the church continued to progress, it was the consensus of the congregation to extend a call for its first Pastor. 
 
Our First Pastor… On October 2, 1930, the Reverend Luscious A. Platt of Ontario, California was called and became the first Pastor of the Wall Avenue Baptist Church.  He was the  pastor for six years.  Following his departure Rev. Jessie L. Conner (1942-1948) and Rev. J. L. Rollerson (1948-1951) served faithfully in the capacity as pastors. By Gods grace and mercy the church flourished and call of pastor was accepted by Reverend Benjamin J. Washington in 1952.  Under his leadership the congregation grew into the need of church building.  Through this effort, the Wall Avenue Baptist Church became the New Zion Baptist Church at the proposal of the late Sis. Jimmie Lee Bell.  We are currently occupying that edifice.  Reverend Washington was the Pastor of New Zion for approximately 10 years.  
 
The Church Grows… God has blessed us through these many years with members who have exhibited faithfulness, prayers and perseverance.  New Zion has had pastors who devotedly served from 1961 to late 2011 and they are; Rev. S. C. Miller (1963-1964), Rev. Lacy K. Curry (1965-1968), Rev. Olice E. Piper (1969), Rev. Leodis W. Watkins (1970), Rev. Joseph S. Speech (1970-1971), Rev. Willie L. Davis (1972-1978), during the pastorate of Rev. N. Lawrence Liggins (1979-1983), our aphorism “Love Ye One Another” [John 13:34] was adopted and in November 1979, New Zion witnessed it largest baptism to date where 25 souls gave their life to Christ, Rev. Tyrone Seals (1984-1986), Rev. Isaac P. Brantley (1987-1994), Rev. George Merritt (1995-1996), Rev. Cal Carter (Interim 1996), during the tenure of Rev. James Abrams (1997-2004) an historical event took place when he ordained the Rev. Michelle Dockery Boyer as the first female ever to be licensed as a Reverend at New Zion on May 15, 2004, Rev. Derrell H. Hughes (2005-2006), Rev. Dr. Bruce Davis, Sr. (2007-2011), Rev. Cal Carter, Rev. Michelle Dockery-Boyer, Rev. Lillie D. Blakeley-Holman and Rev. Stanley L. Ellington (as Associate Ministers) aided the church during our transition of prayerfully seeking guidance from the Lord for His calling of a Pastor (late 2011-12).  As we remain steadfast and keep our hand in Gods hand, we continued to see His grace and mercy.  In September 2012, New Zion extended the call to pastor to Rev. Carey E. McCall, III, M.Div., of Paterson, NJ.  Pastor McCall accepted the tremendous calling and delivered the Proclamation of the Gospel on Sunday, November 25, 2012.  We praise God for His Son, Jesus the Christ, whose anointing, grace and mercy are still here at New Zion.   Pastor McCall served faithfully as the Under-Shepherd until he tendered his resignation on September 6,  2016. 

 

 Where We Are Headed  Under Pastor McCall’s leadership, we have witnessed the Lord’s blessings and grace, with many who have acknowledged Jesus the Christ as their Lord and Savior, being baptized in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, re-activation and creation of new ministries to name a few.  On March 29, 2014, Pastor McCall ordained as Deacon, Deacon Thomas M. White and ordained Rev. Stanley L. Ellington and Rev. Lillie D. Blakeley-Holman as Reverends on May 3, 2014.  In January 2016, we adopted “Team New Zion: Pillars of Leadership having Commitment, Conviction, Competency and Character” as  our dictum. Through God’s anointing and teachings of Pastor McCall, we have powerful and enlightening spiritual training, excellent and in-depth Bible Studies.  Our worship service is led by the Holy Spirit with sound Biblical preaching, exalting the Lord as head of the church with high praise and worship services.  We will soldier on as we commemorated on Palm Sunday, March 20,  2016, 90-years of standing as a beacon of light in the Utah Wasatch Front and world; pressing towards the future (however, not forgetting our past) endeavors to go forth in the matchless name of Jesus the Christ in prayer and supplication, as we seek a pastor of this great church and as it states in our church mission statement to be “A Ministry Where Everyone Counts”, Ephesians 4:4 … “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope your calling.”

 
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Praise God from whom all blessings flow!