St. John A.M.E. Zion Church is celebrating its 120th anniversary this year and its members have much to rejoice. Through the years the small church has survived various national and local economic depressions, congregants moving to the suburbs and the lack of parking. Automobiles were not a consideration when the church was built on Pawnee Street in 1901.

The first African-American settlers in Bethlehem were deeply involved in the Moravian community. Some traveled to the village by choice and others were slaves owned by white Moravian congregants. Their numbers in town remained few until after the Civil War.

After the Emancipation Proclamation was signed in 1863, large numbers of blacks immigrated north from southern plantations. African-Americans who came to Bethlehem, found employment in the service industry. They worked in various jobs such as cooks, waiters, horse keepers, maids and carriage drivers.

Although many African-Americans worked for and lived with the wealthiest families in town, members of the other immigrant groups in town often displayed discrimination against them. Their residences were in servant quarters in Fountain Hill mansions or in rear apartments on streets and alleys. Although their labor provided invaluable services for Bethlehem, the prejudice of their white neighbors relegated them to an under-appreciated presence.

The St. John African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church was the first church to be organized by people of color in the Lehigh Valley. As early as the 1880s, black citizens met in private homes to worship. The church incorporated in Northampton County in 1894 as Saint John's African Methodist Episcopal and worshiped in Laufer's Hall at Third and New streets. The borough of South Bethlehem permitted the church to also meet at the police station in the old market house, at Third and Adam streets.

The church received a charter from the New Jersey Conference of A.M.E. Zion Church in 1900. The conference provided the group a pastor that year. Their first pastor, Rev. C.H. Brown, directed the purchased of a property on Pawnee Street in 1901. He supervised the building of the small, sturdy stone structure, still in use today, for the sum of $600. A parsonage was built as an addition in 1922.

The Rev. C.H. Brown's brother, the Rev. John Walter Brown, was the next pastor to serve between 1903 and 1905. In 1936, he was appointed bishop of A.M.E. Zion Church. Four other reverends, who ministered the Bethlehem church, were eventually appointed bishop. Over the years 28 pastors have served the congregation. The Rev. Gracher L. Selby is the current pastor.

St. John A.M.E. Zion Church is connected to the long history of the A.M.E. Zion Church. At the same time Richard Allen was forming the African Methodist Episcopal Church (founded in 1816) in Philadelphia, a New York group established the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (founded in 1821). A.M.E. Zion soon grew throughout the northern states and North Carolina. The Colored Methodist Episcopal Church (founded in 1870) flourished in the southern states. The A.M.E. Zion church has served as the spiritual home to Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman and Paul Robeson.

Church members have also been leaders for the Bethlehem black community. Rachael Bradley was a charter member of the church. She was a descendent of Hiram Bradley, one of the first black residents of South Bethlehem. Bradley Street is named for the family. Rev. R. Wakefield Roberts served as pastor of St. John's A.M.E. Zion from 1956 to 1966. He also served as president of the Bethlehem N.A.A.C.P. (founded in 1945) and was selected as the Bethlehem Jaycees' "Young Man of the Year" in 1964. His wife, Constance Roberts Gates, was the first African-American hired as a teacher in the Bethlehem School District, in 1963. She taught music education while she and R. Wakefield raised their four children.

Today, St. John A.M.E. Zion Church is 50 congregants strong. They continue their tradition of helping those in need. Their pastor, Rev. Selby, stated, "In these times of economic depression, we must help one another."

Another concern of Rev. Selby is the lack of parking and building space available at their church. Fountain Hill is densely developed around the small church property. Pawnee Street, a narrow street, becomes impossible to navigate when there is snow. The congregation invested in a van that they use to shuttle church members between the Fountain Hill Police parking lot and the church doors. On Rev. Selby's wish list is a move to another building with adequate parking and more space for meetings and classes. Despite all the recent snow, on Sundays, the church is full.