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History |
Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up. James 4:10
The founding pastor of Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church, Rev. Robert Rumley, 1880-1897, resigned as Pastor of Nazareth First Baptist Church and founded Mount Zion with a small group of Christians. He served this congregation for seventeen years. |
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Near the turn of the century, Rev. Jacob Nelson became the second pastor of this church, 1897-1926. The first church building was quickly outgrown and a second edifice was erected and used for approximately 20 years. In 1919, the third and present building was erected. |
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With the death of Rev. Nelson, Rev. John Hairston, a national leader in the Baptist faith, was called to be the third pastor, 1926-1947. Soon the every growing congregation increased so rapidly that the church building was renovated to increase its capacity by one-third. |
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 | Dr. John W. White Dr. John White, 1947-1989, was called to be the fourth pastor of Mt. Zion. He was a well-known preacher and evangelist throughout America. |
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The fifth and present pastor of Mt. Zion, Dr. John H. Grant, immediately realized that Mount Zion had great potential to expand in order to meet the future needs of the church and the community. The 6&4 Capital Improvement Plan was instituted by the church and additional properties have been purchased under his leadership. Mount Zion Community Development, Inc., organized under Pastor Grant's leadership, is a non-profit community-based redevelopment corporation organized to focus on (1) empowerment of the individual and community by providing spiritual, economic, and educational opportunities to the greater Asheville/Buncombe County community to address the needs for jobs, housing, crime prevention, education, and health care; and (2) collaboration with local community-based organizations in the physical redevelopment of the "Block" for housing and supportive services.
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