Roseville Baptist Church 1871-1965 Recollections of Richard E. Patton former member

Roseville Baptist Church , Newark, New Jersey. About 1945. This is the postcard that Church used for many years. This is the way the building appeared when I (Mr. Patton) was a young boy. The tracks for the Public Service #21 are visible on West Market Street.

Mr. Patton attended Roseville Baptist Church from birth until 1965. I asked if he would share any recollections and photographs so that I could post them on Newarksattic. What I received was a history of the Church that exceeded all my expectations. Mr. Patton recalled the history of the Church in vivid detail. Roseville Baptist Church will live-on because of Mr. Patton’s kindness in sharing a history that few living people can still recall. Now whenever I go past the void where the Church stood and Route 280 rumbles beneath in a 40 foot culvert I remember the Roseville Baptist Church.

“My name is Richard E. Patton. I attended Roseville Baptist Church from birth until its sale to the New Jersey State Highway Authority and was a member from 1947 to 1965. My parent’s were members from the 1920s until 1965, and my paternal grandparents were members from about 1906 until their deaths in the mid-1900s.

Roseville Baptist Church was affiliated with the New Jersey Baptist Convention and the American Baptist Convention( formerly the Northern Baptist Convention until the Civil War caused the separation of the Southern Baptist Convention). Our membership was approximately 200-250. Regular included Sunday school at 9:45a.m. and worship services at 11a.m. For many years the Church held weekly prayer meetings on Tuesday evenings which my father regularly attended. The Church also held an annual bazaar and dinner for the public, I believe in the fall. My Dad served on the Board of Deacons, and my Mother, on the Board of Deaconesses, both for many years. Both parents were Sunday school teachers, my Dad with an adult class and Mom with a teenage class. Mom was also the Sunday school’s Financial Secretary for many years, and I remember her emptying envelopes onto the card table on Sunday afternoons and counting the money, so much for the Sunday school and so much for the missions.”

I’ve attached a photo in pieces. It was taken of the entire congregation on October 17,1943 in the sanctuary. The minister, Mr. Bleakney, is standing behind the pulpit in the very center of the photo. My sister and I are sqatting in the very front row on the right. My father is standing in front of the memorial banner on the wall, and my mother is standing in the row behind Mr. Bleakney, one person to the left, in the light colored outfit. I personally knew many of these folks.

“Of course, we had an adult choir as well as a children’s choir. The adult choir had roughly a dozen members , including two that frequently offered solos. Neither of my parents were members. I was in the children’s choir for several years, as was my sister. Later we were both in the adult choir.

Big Sunday programs were held on Easter , Children’s Day(June), Rally Day(September), and Christmas. “

This is the bulletin of the 25th anniversary celebration of the Church’s last full-time pastor Clarance Bleakney, in 1951. He was a native of Nova Scotia. Mr. Bleakney remained as full-time pastor until 1962, retiring just a couple years before the Church’s demise. My grandparents served on the committee that made the decision back in 1926 to bring him to Roseville.

“The Rev. Clarance Bleakney was the full-time minister from 1926 until his retirement in the early 1960s. The Bleakneys lived across the street from the church at 12 Gould Avenue. Violet and Clarance had four children, Barbara, Joyce, Glenn, and Burton. Barbara and Joyce died of medical issues during their adult life. All were active in the Church. Mr. Bleakney was very active in visiting ill or shut-in members. He was for many years also Chaplin of the Newark Fire Department.

Some very friends and longtime members of Roseville Baptist Church, Florence and Seymour Crump, lived for many years at 29 Humboldt Street back in the1940s to at least the 1960s.”

( I currently live at 29 Humboldt)

“They were my parents age. Florence was for many years the church’s Financial Secretary. It was her job to record each member’s weekly contribution as noted on their church envelope by her when emptied the envelopes and counted the money. We had a split envelope system. money placed in the left said of the envelope was to support the Church, and money placed on the right side for the support of missions. I substituted for her a few times when they went on vacation. Seymour was a trustee for many decades. He, my father, and other men could frequently be found at church doing various maintenance, repair and renovation projects.

Seymour, my Father, and I also served on the Board of the Newark Christian Center, located at 75 Park Avenue in Newark.”

(This building had also been the Italian Baptist Church and is now owned by La Casa de Don Pedro)

“The Center, affiliated with the New Jersey Baptist Convention, housed the Park Avenue Baptist Church and an outreach facility that primarily supported local women and children in a variety of programs.

By the 1950s, many of our members were moving away from Newark and the Church’s membership declined. After Mr. Bleakney’s retirement we could no longer afford a full-time pastor, so the convention appointed a part-time paster, of which we had at least two over the remaining few years of the Church’s existence.”

I’m enclosing a photo of the Roseville Baptist Church. This photo was taken on Sunday, September 5, 1965, the final Sunday service at the Church. The object below the American flag is the tone cabinet to our electric organ. At the right … of the choir loft is a small mirror enabling the organist to see the ushers. The pulpit is in the center covered by a deep red draped hanging depicting the cross and crown. Floral bouquets sat atop stands on either side of the pulpit. To the right beneath the Christian flag is the door to the pastor’s study. In days gone by, there used to be lettering above the central arch reading, ” The Lord Loveth the Gates of Zion” and , above the stained-glass window depicting the Good Shepard, “Feed My Sheep”. Just below the stain-glass window is a drape concealing the Baptistry where I was baptized on Easter Sunday 1947 at age 12. The sanctuary had a cathedral ceiling supported by large crisscrossing wood beams. I remember my father and other men climbing up there to paint or stain the beams.
This is the Church in its final days. For years the church exterior was a tan or light brown color. The final appearance was in white. That’s my 1958 Volkswagen Beetle parked on Gould Avenue in front of the Church.

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