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Humble Beginnings
(Paged from the Diary of Bishop L. J. Barnes)
"10/10/74, Bishop S.
Dunn and Saints of Bethel Church in England brought a ticket for me to leave
my family and come to America and start a work for the Lord. Upon arrival in
New York, I stayed at my sister-in-law’s house on Union Street. Not long
after this, I started looking for a place to set up worship. I found 722
Nostrand Ave, an upstairs facility to hold worship.
11/5/74, Bishop Saunders Sr.
sent $600 to help me in my search for a Building to house the people of God.
11/15/74, I signed a one year
lease, present was Elder Malcolm. Mr. Waldron the owner of 722 Nostrand Ave
received a total of $600 at the signing, which consisted of two months rent
in advance, rent being $200 a month.
11/17/74, Elder Scott from
Baltimore came with a check for $200 from Bishop Saunders to help with
further expenses. The lumber for the church cost $133.32.
11/18/74, I bought 25 chairs for
the church that cost $175.50 and in this I got one chair free which gave me
total of 26 chairs. The chairs were bought at a store downtown Brooklyn,
which I carried on the train along with a couple of the saints.
11/19/74, Sis. P. McKenzie was
given $53.98 to buy drapes for the new sanctuary and Elder Smith also bought
the radiator. The radiator cost $45.00, it was fitted in at the same time.
Elder Smith got a parking ticket while fitting the radiator, and I gave him
$5.00 for gas and $15.00 to pay the ticket which was covered by the church.
The pipes were purchased for $22.61. The paints cost $13.53 and an extra tin
of paint along with a can of potty was also bought for $6.75.
11/20/74, the nails for the
bathroom panel was bought for 90 cents. Panels for the window and bulbs cost
$19.73. 2 latches and 1 spring were brought for the door, at a cost of
$2.12. The public address system cost $230.15.
11/24/74, the first Sunday
morning prayer meeting was held at 722 Nostrand Ave, I was present at the
prayer meeting along with Sis Toni, Sis Jones, and Elder D. W. Thompson from
Canada. The official opening took place that same Sunday evening , present
was Overseer Owens from Philadelphia [sent to install me as the pastor of
the church], Elder D. W. Thompson from Canada, Min. Thompson, Evang,
Harriet, Evang. McKenzie, Evang Jones, Bro. Noel from Canada, Elder Scott,
Bro. Mullins, Bro. Jones from Connecticut, Elder and Sis Malcolm, Si Toni,
Sis B. Smiley, Sis. A. Foster, saints from Elder Green church in Long
Island. The meeting was well attended the offering for the night was $200
enough to pay a months rent. Prayer was held Wednesday and Friday of that
same week." |
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As
for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve
Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the Lord
searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the
thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you
forsake Him, He will cast you off forever. "CONSIDER
NOW, FOR THE LORD HAS CHOSEN YOU TO BUILD A HOUSE FOR THE
SANCTUARY; BE STRONG, AND DO IT…" (1 Chron. 28:9, 10)
And so it was that
Elder Leslie Josiah Barnes left his wife, children, mother, and
church family in his hometown of Wellington, England, during the
Fall of 1974, armed with nothing more than the knowledge that he
had been commissioned to embark upon a new journey--a journey
that he understood to be ordained by God. Thus standing upon the
words that he had used repeatedly to his wife (Missionary Etta
Barnes), he thus stated, "I will make myself flexible in
the hands of The LORD."
Upon his arrival in
Brooklyn, New York on October 10, 1974, Elder Barnes knew that
he could not afford to waste any time in responding to the
spiritual needs of the many immigrants who were rapidly
migrating from England to Jamaica with affiliations to the
churches under the leadership of Bishop Sydney Dunn. Having
conferred with Bishop Dunn and Presiding Monroe R. Saunders,
Sr., Elder Barnes was fully aware of the great task that lay
ahead of him a full year prior to his actual departure from
England. Nevertheless, he humbly submitted to the call, as
Bishops Dunn and Saunders un-hesitantly laid hands on Elder
Barnes and assigned him the task of establishing and pastoring a
church in Brooklyn, NY.
Elder Barnes could
never have foreseen, however, the many sleepless nights and
lonely days that lay ahead for him. He would never realize the
road of tears that lay before. Without his wife physically by
his side or his children surrounding him, there were many days
of despair. Yet, he realized that he could not afford to waste
time responding to his days of despair as th e needs of Gods
people were greater. So putting himself aside, he immediately
started his search for a place of worship. Within a short period
of time he located a tiny hall in the Crown Heights section of
Brooklyn, NY and rented it out. What was to become home and a
place of refuge to many brethren (722 Nostrand Avenue) was
rented out at $200.00 per month. Facility were very menial and
space was extremely limited. In fact what was referred to as the
Pastor’s office was just a little bigger than a telephone
booth. Yet it was a beginning and it was here that his wife and
children would join him in ministry in July of 1976.
Such marked the
humble beginning of one of the greatest blessings Brooklyn could
ever have received--the establishment of the First United Church
of Jesus Christ (Apostolic). The church opened its doors on
Sunday November 24, 1974 and the first offering raised in that
service was $200.00. The first baptism was that of "Sis.
Noel." Because there was no pool at this site, the baptism
was performed at Beulah Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ pastored
by Elder Jones. In the midst of these blessings, the progress
was marred by problems after problems. One week after buying
some equipment for the church, the building was broken into and
the church suffered a great loss. The guitar, amplifier, drums,
fan and clock were stolen. In addition to this, sometimes water
would leak from upstairs and flood the
 sanctuary. Yet amidst all
of these unpleasant experiences, Elder Barnes together with the
saints of this assembly remained strong seeking consolation in
the testimony of Job, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust
him: but I will maintain mine own ways before Him." (Job
13:15)
It was never the
intent of the saints to remain at the small store-front location
at Nostrand Avenue. Pastor Barnes acknowledges that this was
just the first necessary step thus he continued to search for a
larger place of worship to purchase for the saints of God. His
quest materialized in 1977 when the building at 868 Winthrop
Street went up for sale. A meeting was called and an agreement
was reached that the building should be purchased. Even before
the contract was signed the saints were given access to the
building and the first worship service was held.
When the members
moved into the new building ,it was a relatively small group, so
there was ample room for worship in the sanctuary, which hosted
a seating capacity of approximately 100. However day by day
souls were added to the fold and as a result of this rapid
growth, the saints were forced to knock out walls even removing
the Pastor’s office in the process.
868 Winthrop Street
was just a stepping stone to the greater things God had in store
for them that love Him and diligently seek Him. On November 24th,
2001 the congregation moved into a 1.2 million dollar edifice,
at 590 Utica Ave, Brooklyn, NY–-a testament to the further
Glory that will be revealed through God’s people.
By the Grace of God
we have come this far & by His Grace, we will continue to
better things!
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