Our History
The History Of Allen Memorial Church Of God In Christ
Our founding fathers established the Allen Memorial Church of God in Christ through faith in God and personal sacrifice. This congregation continues seeking to be faithful in the will of God. We are honored to be advocates and participants of the will God being realized in our time and place. Some three scores and fifteen years ago the Church of God in Christ was established in Mount Vernon, New York. We are moved to appreciate the first members who helped establish the first Church of God in Christ in Mount Vernon. In the early 1920, the Elders John Ware, Aldophus Saunders and their families came from Far Rockaway, New York to establish a mission in Mount Vernon, under the instruction of Bishop Charles Harrison Mason the founding father of the Church of God in Christ, Inc. The beginnings were meager but established in a wealth of faith.
The church had meager beginnings in the homes of new converts. In 1929, the missionaries successfully established the church in a rented facility, located at 6 West 6th Street (presently Sandford Blvd.).
This was the established beginning of a ministry that would positively affect the entire community. Pastor Ware and Saunders worked together, while establishing the ministries of the church in the early 1930’s Pastor Ware’s wife took ill and they returned to Far Rockaway. Before his untimely departure, Pastor Ware officially transferred the entire pastorate to Elder Adolphus Saunders. Pastor Saunders worked untiringly through the 1930’s. The congregation out grew their rented facility. On September 18, 1939, the entire church purchased a parcel of land and property located at 410 South 9th Avenue in Mount Vernon, New York. This was a very expensive undertaking during the year of the great depression. The church membership was committed to the project and made tremendous sacrifices to nurture and preserve the first Church of God in Christ in Mount Vernon.
In February 1940, Elder Saunders resigned as pastor and relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina. Within the congregation was a young man that Pastor Saunders considered a most existing parcel that would better serve the congregation and community. In 1947, Pastor Allen and the congregation secured a contractor and began to build a larger facility on a cash basis. The new facility was completed in October of 1950 and dedicated on November 12, 1950.
The membership agreed to receive Deacon Ernest W. Allen as the successor of Pastor Saunders. In September of 1940, Bishop O.M. Kelly ordained Deacon Allen and installed him as the second pastor of the Mount Vernon Church of God In Christ. Pastor Allen further developed the ministries of the Church. In 1946, the small congregation satisfied the existing mortgage liability. Yet Pastor Allen had a greater vision to build a larger facility on the existing parcel that would better serve the congregation and community.