For our current church family and for many previous generations of saints, Shiloh Baptist Church in Rockville Centre has been a place of worship and a source of spiritual substance for 114 years. In June 1907, Mrs. Glendora Hankins called together a group of people for the purpose of organizing the first Black Baptist Church in Rockville Centre, New York. Little is known of Sis. Hankins except that she called the very first meeting that eventually led to the Shiloh Baptist Church family being formed. It is not clear where this meeting took place but without suitable places to hold subsequent gatherings, Sis. Hankins and her supporters took turns meeting weekly for worship services by moving from house to house. A couple of Hankins’ associates, Mr. and Mrs. Wiley, hosted the first service in the form of a mission in their home. Reverend A Hill, the pastor of St. John’s Baptist Church of Jamaica, New York, moderated the mission, launching a membership recruitment drive. Counting the four from Reverend Hill’s church, the membership soon grew to sixteen. Even though they did not have a building, they were still a church. They called themselves “Shiloh.” They elected the first officers and organized several ministries. July 25th, 1907, was the day Shiloh Baptist Church incorporated which marked another key milestone in our church’s storied history.
In October 1907, the Shiloh Baptist Church family moved from residences to a new meeting facility on 158 Merrick Road. The exact date is sketchy, but approximately two years later, the Shiloh Baptist Church family- still in its infancy- purchased a lot at 87 Banks Avenue, Rockville Centre. Pleased with the work of these humble saints, the Lord rewarded them with a small frame building. They wasted little time purchasing the small frame building and transporting the structure to 87 Banks Avenue where they set it down. Applause and recognition followed their accomplishment and the congregation moved into their first church building. Shiloh, after all, was the first Black Baptist Church in the village that earlier was known as Near Rockaway before taking its name from a local mill owner and civic leader, Mordecai Rock Smith. It also was the first Black Baptist Church in Nassau County, to own property. Sis. Gertrude Ulmer, prior to her passing, fondly recalled Shiloh’s early days. “To get to the basement, you had to go outside the building,” said Sis. Ulmer, whose father, Deacon Benjamin Jenkins, was chairman of the board of deacons, and whose mother, Deaconess Ophelia Jenkins, was pregnant with her while she served on the choir. Like its successor, the first Shiloh was a house of worship known for harmonious, spirit-filled music. “It was the first church around with a pipe organ,” Sis. Ulmer recalled. But all the days of Shiloh were not sunny. There were minor setbacks. Reverend Hill’s resignation, for example, sounded a sour note among the membership.
But Shiloh prevailed under the leadership of subsequent successors, including Reverend Dudley, Reverend Harrell, Reverend Spencer Miles, and Reverend Arthur Wainwright. In 1937, Reverend Morgan M. Days accepted the call to lead the church, some three decades after Shiloh was first incorporated. The church grew rapidly under his guidance. Sis. Ulmer, who just turned eight at the time, was baptized by Pastor Days soon after his arrival. In 1939, two years after Dr. Days took over as Shiloh’s leader, the mortgage for the property on 87 Banks Avenue was burned. Less than a decade later in 1945, Shiloh purchased property on the corner of North Centre Avenue and Willoughby Street, the site of the present church. By 1951, a campaign to raise money for the construction of a new church was in full swing, attracting widespread support from neighboring residents and church members. In October 1953, the world-renowned opera singer Dorothy Maynor performed a concert in Rockville Centre to help raise money to build the new Shiloh Baptist Church. Dr. Days, who was well-loved in the community, received generous contributions, cash, and sweat from people throughout the community and beyond. The men of the church, short on funds but not on commitment, laid the floors and built the steps, making it possible for the cornerstone to be laid by 1953. The new Shiloh was completed in June 1954. It was dedicated June 22nd, 1958, approximately four years after it was built. As well as cash, many of the churches and neighboring businesses contributed furnishings to Shiloh, as recorded by Sis. Ulmer. One church pitched in pulpit furniture. Another, the B-Line bus company, contributed an organ, she said, noting that her sister, Sis. Clara Hadley was the pianist at Shiloh for more than three decades. Sis. Ulmer also fondly recalled hearing the bell which tolled every Sunday before service and at 12 AM on watch night. Sis. Lenora Quinones was at Shiloh when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. came to the church. When Dr. King came to Shiloh, Sis. Quinones says the people in Shiloh and the community said, “At last, at last!”. People in Shiloh and the community felt a sense of hope when Dr. King came into town. During the 1970s, Rosa Lee Young Day Care Center was located at Shiloh with playground equipment.
Sis. Quinones says that even during times when the church experienced limitations the members still knew the Word of prayer. A person could walk by on any Wednesday night and hear the Prayer Meeting that was going on inside. Sis. Quinones says that if a person didn’t know it was Prayer Meeting, they would think that there was a worship service going on inside the church. Sis. Quinones says that the Shiloh in the past was highly respected and were good stewards of God’s house. After almost fifty years of dedicated service, Pastor Days submitted his resignation in October 1985 due to failing health. He served as Pastor Emeritus until his death in 1987. In May of that year, the village of Rockville Centre honored Reverend Days by renaming Willoughby Street, Morgan Days Lane. The Village of Rockville Centre also named one of its parks after Dr. Days. Shiloh, under the able leadership of Reverend Reginald E. Greene, its ministers, and its board, led by Deacon William Sandefur, continued an upward and progressive course along with its kingdom-building journey. Reverend Greene and Reverend Alton E. Jones, served as interim co-pastors for about two years. Reverend Greene was elected pastor in February 1987. He served until October 1988.
In June 1990, the Lord blessed Shiloh Baptist Church with a gift from heaven. In search of a new shepherd, the Shiloh Baptist Church family stretched out its arms, beckoning to Pennsgrove, New Jersey, where Reverend Herman Washington answered the call. Reverend Washington, who grew up in Philadelphia, got his early religious education alongside his late father, Reverend Julius Mosley, Pastor of the Saint Stephen’s Baptist Church. Reverend Washington served as Associate Minister of the Beulah Baptist Church of Philadelphia, and as pastor of the Hopewell Baptist Church, Pennsgrove, NJ, for eight years. Reverend Herman Washington was handed the Shiloh helm in June 1990. Since then, Pastor Washington has reorganized and established numerous ministries, including New Member’s classes and Curriculum, the Shiloh Worship & Arts Ministry, the Women’s Ministry, Men’s Fellowship, Wednesday evening Bible Study, the Shiloh Foundation, Spiritual Life Conference, Church Training Institute, Happy Homes Ministry, Endless Possibilities In Christ-Philippians 4:13 (E.P.I.C. 4:13), to name a few. Pastor Washington has lovingly served the congregation of Shiloh with an unwavering commitment to preach, teach and live God’s Word in his life with authenticity and consistency. His dedication to the Word of God has caused many people to change their minds and give their lives over to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Under Pastor Washington, the Shiloh family is experiencing tremendous growth in their spiritual lives.
Surely, the spirits of Shiloh’s past are pleased with the direction of the legacy they handed down. They must be smiling from heaven looking at the place they once occupied in the pews. We are often reminded by Pastor Washington that the church is neither the building nor its pews. The church, like the first Shiloh Church, which had no pews, pulpit or walls- is you and me. We are the Church! In truth, the church is made up of every person who has been born again, from the day of Pentecost in Acts 2 to this very day. The Church is the people of God from every generation, every nation, and every place under the sun. This truth is so important that in the New Testament usage of the word “church,” not one single time does it refer to a physical structure! So, then the Church is not a building made up of brick, mortar, wood, stone, nails, etc. The Church is specifically the people who have been chosen by a Sovereign God to be His own. This speaks of privilege, because you do not join the church, you must be born into it! So, after we gather in this place, this building, let us keep in mind that if the building burns down, the Church will stand! For, we are the Church!
Submitted by Trustee Stanley Ridley