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Mount Sinai Baptist’s Pastor Reflects on Faith Beyond Brick and Mortar
By Terelle Jerricks, Managing Editor
Church is not a building, but a group of people with Jesus, the Christ, at its center. Too frequently stories about churches are focused on fundraising efforts to build new places of worship, renovate old places of worship, or pay off the mortgage of existing places of worship, rather than stories reflecting the heart of their God as expressed in their works on the earth.
To capture a picture of the 21st-century iteration of of the oldest Black Church to remain continusly open fore the last100 years, I interviewed their senior lead Pastor Leo Thomas last month. He noted that part of the job of being the light of the world is creating compelling messages rooted in the word of God that specifically speak to the obligation and responsibilities of Christians as believers.
His tenure at Mt. Sinai is tied for second with his predecessor, Rev. Vonzella W. Arterberry, at 17 years. The length of their tenure follows that of Mount Sinai’s most transformational leader in church history, the Rev. Dr. Dudley Robert Cofield, who served from 1942 until he died in 1963.
“I think a lot of people look at Christianity, as, ‘What can I get out of it?’ versus, ‘What can I sow into it?’ And part of the responsibility and accountability as a believer is not only professing Jesus Christ as lord and savior but then taking that tangible confession and then moving forward.”
Thomas believes that every pastor should have something “in their spiritual repatriation” that when they’re gone, there’s something people can point to that says, “This happened under that pastor” or the church built this under this pastor.
The church, as it stands now, is only 23 years old, following a two-year renovation started under Rev. Arterberry in 1999.
“I take no credit for this facility,” Pastor Thomas said. “It was magnificent. So I take no credit.”
In 2022, Mt. Sinai held a ceremony tossing the church’s mortgage into a fire, declaring their church’s mortgage paid in full and the church debt-free.
“We were operating in the red. Paying off the mortgage was a significant deal for us. Now, I think it’s time to get back to what we were doing in the community.”
While Mt. Sinai and its 17-year spiritual shepherd focused its attention on how it was serving congregants via the formation of their different counseling ministries, including brotherhood /sisterhood ministry, couples ministry, singles ministry, and a grief ministry, called the ODAT Ministry (for One Day at a Time), it’s apparent the church has been looking to win more hearts and minds beyond the Black community.
“I think all of those things help people understand we all have a responsibility as individuals, which of course, creates a greater responsibility for the body at large,” Pastor Thomas.
Nevertheless, Mt. Sinai’s pastoral leadership team is the most diverse it has ever been, with the inclusion of two women and two white ministers in its ranks.
Pastor Thomas noted that not having a Spanish-speaking preacher as part of their leadership team has been a challenge for the church.
“Just based on my business knowledge, this is probably a 70% Hispanic community around us,” he said. “That puts us at a little bit of a disadvantage to be honest with you, because it’s harder to connect because we don’t speak the same language.”
The pastor said he has not allowed that barrier to keep the church from doing the work.
“We’ve knocked on doors … given out food during the holidays. We brought in an optometrist and gave away free glasses … we’ve done free haircuts,” Pastor Thomas explained. “We’ve done different things for the community. And fortunately, for us, our Hispanic brothers and sisters, they will come and take advantage of those things.”
Pastor Thomas admits that that level of engagement is just fragmentary moments in which Mt. Sinai offers a helping hand today, but may not see them again until the next year.
Mt. Sinai Baptist Church through the Arc of History
As part of my research into the hidden history of Black San Pedro and the Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church, I conducted archival research of the California Eagle and the News Pilot and cross-referenced information address directories from San Pedro to Long Beach, and census records to gain insight into the original trustees of Mt. Sinai and the pastors who served the church over the last 100 years.
Below is a list of Mt. Sinai’s pastors since the church’s first tent-covered services in July 1924. In the early years, before 1942, there were many gaps between resignations and installations of new pastors. At times, the church’s original trustees (William and Mary Hathway, Robert and Addie Alton, Henry and Rhoda Lasley, John Thomas, and John and Judith White) protected their hopes and their desires for this church as they entrusted it to the future.
Throughout its history, Mt. Sinai’s trustees and generations of its deacons and pastors believed in advertising their services and special events so that the whole world knew they were there. It was because of that belief that it was possible to track the installation and resignation of Mt. Sinai pastors. By my count, Mt. Sinai had 14 pastors, with Pastor Thomas being the fourteenth.
Remembering Rev. Dr. D. Robert Cofield
Dr. Cofield was born in a small delta town in Mississippi in 1903. In 1919, he moved with his family to Red Bird, Oklahoma. After graduating from high school there, he entered Western Baptist College in Kansas City, Missouri. When his family moved to California, he continued his education at the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, where he received a bachelor of theology degree in 1934. Dr. Cofield, who had been preaching for some 33 years before he died, received his first three pastorates before he found his way to the San Pedro church, two before he graduated from college: his first was in Ogden, Utah, and the second was at Immanuel Baptist Church in Los Angeles in 1933 where he met his future wife Jessie; then Mt. Sinai Baptist Church in 1942.
According to a 1956 profile published in the News Pilot, when Dr. Cofield arrived in 1942, he found the church in debt and the church sanctuary needing repairs. Within two years of his arrival, the mortgage was burned and the church was renovated. He added Sunday school rooms, a baptistry, a vestibule, and an enlarged sanctuary.
At the time, Dr. Cofield endeavored to use the extra space for after-school hours of vocational training for youths 6 to 14 years of age.
In 1949, a new church was started. When the project was completed two years later, the property was valued at $72,000.
Dr. Cofield continued his education and in 1949 received a bachelor of divinity degree from Provident Baptist Theological Seminary. One of his most cherished honors was bestowed upon him in 1951 when Central College of Mississippi bestowed on him the honorary doctorate of Divinity for his work in Christian education.
As significant as Dr. Cofield’s contributions to Mt. Sinai were, his contributions as a leader in San Pedro’s faith community made him a transformational figure. Mt. Sinai’s elders and ministers from its founding reached out to the local community, whether through its Jubilee choirs, making space for speakers discussing missionary work in Africa, or participating in a Black-owned shipping line to engage in trade with the countries on the African continent as was the case with the Rev. James Lewis or simply to use the baptismal pool at First Baptist Church.
Since the late 19th century, local churches in San Pedro had already been engaged in the work of the Social Gospel helping men stricken with alcohol addiction, and the homeless with a place to sleep. In those days, at least until World War II, churches received very minimal government support to do the work they did.
The same mindset got many involved in the temperance movement in the early decades of the 20th century, providing shelter beds for the down and out, raising money to feed, clothe, and take children of poor families on field trips. These nonprofits were often so good at what they did, they almost forgot they were indeed Christian organizations. From the 1940s through the 1960s, they were arguably the biggest agents for change in regard to racial reconciliation, equity, and the manifesting of the Social Gospel in the Los Angeles Harbor and beyond. Following the Second World War, there was an overriding concern for world peace and engaging in dialog to cross any divide to get there.
Song of Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church
Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church celebrated 100 years of continuous service this past Saturday, Oct. 5. That the four-hour block party was filled with live performances by God’s Women of Treasure, The Mt. Sinai Choir, the Mount Musicians and the Mount Youth Choir should come as no surprise given that much of the Los Angeles Harbor Area, Long Beach included, got their first introduction to the port town church through their choir at the very start in a 1929 citywide choir competition.
Earlier this year, Random Lengths News buried an Easter egg of San Pedro history in an article on the PBS docuseries: Gospel.
In that story, I noted that in San Pedro, the spirituals, the forerunner of what became gospel music, became the currency of cultural exchange when the San Pedro YMCA and San Pedro High School would invite local Jubilee singers to perform, starting around 1920. A decade later, Olivia and Arthur Eskridge, Black San Pedro residents, formed the San Pedro Community Chorus featuring more than 50 vocalists, pulling singers from Mount Sinai Baptist Church and the Second Baptist Church (Today called Christ Second Baptist Church and should be celebrating its 120th anniversary sometime in 2025 or 2026) in Long Beach. The chorus competed with other choruses throughout Los Angeles, winning first place and the right to perform at the Hollywood Bowl under the direction of Elmer C. Bartlett, a highly acclaimed choir director and organist who received several awards in the course of his career, including first prize for directing the Los Angeles African Methodist Church’s choir at a 1926 competition at the Hollywood Bowl.
Olivia and Arthur Eskridge migrated to Long Beach in 1920 and became members of the 2nd Baptist Church. They moved to San Pedro in 1923 and used the opportunity to create space for Black excellence in San Pedro and beyond, using the San Pedro Community Choir as an ambassador to the community. The choir regularly performed throughout the community, including the church halls of San Pedro Methodist, First Baptist Church, the San Pedro High School, Leland Elementary School and the YMCA. This work would continue under Dr. Cofield whose charismatic leadership, and education, made him best equipped to ride the zeitgeist of change from the 1940s through the 1960s.
A Fuller Pastoral Timeline of Mt. Sinai Baptist Church
Rev. Charles Elbert Bailey (July 1924 to 1926)
Mt. Sinai was officially organized and incorporated on October 14, 1924. The church led by William and Mary Hathaway and six other charter members held its first service July 1924 in a tent donated by the Hathaways on Third and Palos Verdes Streets. Up until that point, this colony of black folks held held services as a “mission.”
Rev. Bailey, who lived in Watts at the time, was originally from Tulsa Oklahoma. When he was selected as pastor, Rev. Bailey was assisted by Rev. Bently who lived in Pomona according to reporting by the News Pilot at the time. While it is not clear when Rev. Bailey resigned from his post, in June 1926, the church, under his pastoralship, moved to 430 Donald Street — a location that has since been paved over by the SR-476 connecting San Pedro to Long Beach via the Vincent Thomas Bridge. If the street still existed, it would be one block east and eight blocks north of Mt. Sinai’s current location.
Rev. William Saunders (1927)
Thus far, little information has been found on Rev. William Saunders other than that he began pastoring at Mt. Sinai in 1927.
Rev. W.H. McClain (Feb. 1928 – Aug. 1928)
Thus far, little information has been found on Rev. McClain other than he began pastoring at Mt. Sinai at the latest February 1928 and resigned by the of August in 1928.
Rev. Lucien Julien (Sept. 1928 to April 1930)
Rev. Julien, originally from New Orleans came to San Pedro from Chicago. As pastor, he held Wednesday night prayer meetings in his home.
Rev. Frank C. Washington (1930 to 1936)
Washington entered the ministry in 1925 in Detroit, before migrating to Long Beach in 1928. He was selected as pastor of Mt. Sinai Baptist Church in 1930 and served for 6 years. During his tenure, he oversaw the construction of the church sanctuary at 225 Mesa Street. During his pastorship, he aied to ride the momentum generated by the 1929 victory as chorus at the Hollywood Bowl by forming 50 member Jubilee chorus that would go on to perform wherever invited. In October 1936, they performed at the Cabrillo Hall on 10th and Meyler (where Rock Solid Revival Center now resides). Over the decades under future pastors, the Jubilee Choir would be resurrected.
Rev. J. L. Grover (1938), Rev. William M. Small (May 1939 -1940), Rev. Whitfield Masengale (April 1940)
The period between 1937 and 1942, before the arrival Rev. D. Robert Cofield, the senior lead pastor’s position was marked by instability.
Rev. Dr. D. Robert Cofield (1942-1963)
Dr. Coifield was born in a small delta town in Mississippi in 1903. In 1919, he moved with his family to Red Bird, OK. After graduating from high school there, he entered Western Baptist College in Kansas City, Mo. When his family moved to California, he continued his education at the Bible Institute of Los Angeles where he received a bachelor of theology degree in 1934. Dr. Cofield, who had been preaching for some 33 years before he died, received his first three pastorates before he found his way to the San Pedro church, two before he graduated from college: his first was in Ogden, Utah, and the second was at Immanuel Baptist Church in Los Angeles in 1933 where he met his future wife Jessie; then Mt. Sinai Baptist Church in 1942.
Jessie Cofield was the music director at Immanuel Baptist Church before she continued with Dr. Cofield and became Mt. Sinai’s music director.
According to a 1956 profile published in the News Pilot, when Dr. Cofield arrived in 1942, he found the church in debt and the church sanctuary needing repairs. Within two years of his arrival, the mortgage was burned and the church was renovated. He added Sunday school rooms, a baptistry, a vestibule, and an enlarged sanctuary. Also during this period, church membership grew form 17 to 700 members, a period coinciding with the explosive growth of African Americans in the Los Angeles from primarily Southern states looking for work and generally and racially less restrictive environment.
At the time, Dr. Cofield endeavored to use the extra space for after-school hours vocational training for youths 6 to 14.
Following the end of World War II, Dr. Cofield was honored by the federal government for his work with the Office of Price Administration ― a federal department in wartime that had the power to place ceilings on all prices except agricultural commodities, and to ration scarce supplies of other items, including tires, automobiles, shoes, nylon, sugar, gasoline, fuel oil, coffee, meats and processed foods. The functions of the OPA were originally to control money (price controls) and rents after the outbreak of World War II. He has received two awards for his wartime work in the OPA. Dr. Cofield was appointed as an executive member of the domestic relations board and acted as a regional advisor the Los Angeles Harbor Area.
In 1949 a new church was started. When the project was completed two years later the property was valued at $72,000.
Through it all, Dr. Cofield continued his education, receiv a bachelor of divinity degree from Provident Baptist Theological Seminary in 1949. One of his most cherished honors was bestowed upon him in 1951 when Central College of Mississippi bestowed on him the honorary doctorate of Divinity for his work in Christian education.
As significant as Dr. Cofield’s contributions to Mt. Sinai during his tenure were. His contributions as a leader in San Pedro’s faith community. Local churches in San Pedro had long been engaged in the work of the Social Gospel in helping the poor and the disenfranchised. The same mindset got many involved in the temperance movement in the early decades of the 20th century providing shelter beds for the down and out, raising money to feed, cloth, and take children from poor families on field trips. These profits were often so good at what they did, they most forget they were indeed Christian organizations.
Dr. Cofield was often invited to preach at churches across denominations. This was also a period when local clergy regularly held public forums on race relations, discrimination in housing and jobs. Dr. Cofield answered the call to speak on such issues.
Rev. William Jackson 1964 to 1980
Rev. William Jackson was selected as pastored after Rev. Cofield died from complications from heart surgery in 1964. He was ordained as a minister in 1945 before he retired in 1980. A resident of Altadena he commuted regularly to San Pedro to fulfill his duties as pastor. Upon his retirement, he is quoted as saying, “As a pastor, I feel you can stay at a place too long. There’s a certain level you can reach with a group of people. When you reach that level it’s time to move on.”
Jackson’s major accomplishments included paying off the church building indebtedness of $15,000. Under Jackson’s pastorship, an education building was constructed, the church sanctuary was renovated, a large fellowship hall, new Sunday school rooms, a board meeting room, a pastor’s study, and modernized kitchen facilities at $86,000.
An entirely new church and adjoining rooms originally were planned but they deemed costs to be prohibitive. Instead, the congregation voted to expand and modernize the existing facilities. He said the congregation held several projects to help finance the building fund the church had two community steak dinners, the women of the church had a quilt sale and the youth choir gave concerts with free-will offerings, but most of the money to finance the project came from pledges by the congregation.
Rev. Fredrick Stanfield (1980 to 1986)
Rev Frederick Stanfield has been elected pastor of the Mt Sinai Baptist Church. Before his elevation, he had been an associate pastor under Rev. Jackson, had been a member of the church for 10 years and was a member of the Los Angeles Preachers Teaching Class. During his tenure, reflecting his love for teaching young people, he formed Mt Sinai’s Young Matron’s study group and the Young Adult Choir were organized.
Rev. LT Overby (1986 to 1988)
Considedred a gifted preacher and teacher, Rev. Overby often visited the sick and shut in. He resigned in 1989 due to health issues.
According to church history, for more than a year, Mt. Sinai was without a pastor. During this period, reverends Artur West and Pierce Washington assisted the church.
Rev. Von Arterberry (1990 to 2007)
Arterberry a graduate of the California Graduate School of Theology, earned his master’s degree in theology from the same school. He completed special studies under the direction of renowned Christian scholars, J Sidlow Baxter, Butkus Abd-Al Malik, and William S McBirnie.
Installed in April 1990, Arterbery was considered an innovative leader, and under his charge, the Drama department, new members class and scholarship program was formed.
During his tenure, Rev. Arterberry had a vision to tear down the old church structure and build a new edifice from the ground up –a project that began with a groundbreaking ceremony in April 1999.
The final service in the old church was held on June 13, 1999. After a long two-year journey, the new church was completed, and Mt. Sinai celebrated an impressive milestone with a ribbon-cutting ceremony July 2001. In 2006, Rev. Arterberry retired and passed on the reigns to Rev. Leo Thomas.
