East Sixth Street church will celebrate 100 years
It's been 100 years since the Colored Congregation of Packing Town was formed in Oklahoma City.
The congregation now known as East Sixth Street Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) will celebrate its centennial with numerous activities, beginning with a church cookout on Saturday.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, East Sixth Street's 21st pastor, said the event will be at the pavilion at Edwards Park, 1515 N Bryant, serving as a festive kickoff for the anniversary.
Jackson said the house of worship has been split several times, but a group of people always persevered so that the church, currently at 1139 NE 6, would continue on.
He said the church's first major church split occurred in 1938 when some members of the congregation decided to join another denomination. Thus, he said East Sixth Street gave birth to the first black Church of Christ in Oklahoma City, now known as Northeast Church of Christ.
Jackson said the next split happened in 1972 when the church took a vote to move from its longtime building at the corner of NE 6 and Everest Avenue to another location. He said that although the majority chose to leave the Sixth Street property, the opposing group decided to remain there.
The church that grew out of that split was Wildewood Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), which currently meets at 6900 N Kelley.
The church is still here,” Jackson said.
Surviving and thriving
Jackson said he grew up in the Baptist faith tradition and once was a member of St. John Missionary Baptist Church. Jackson said he began going to East Sixth Street because his future wife, Carmen, and her mother attended the church. When the church's senior pastor went to lead a Chickasha ministry, the East Sixth Street congregation chose Jackson as its interim pastor. In 1996, the church decided to make him its senior pastor.
He described the church as “a typical small church,” with current Sunday attendance under 100 people, but some weekends where almost 200 will fill the pews. The church has drawn some new members and visitors from nearby apartments and residences that have been built or renovated in recent years. Jackson said the congregation has embraced these newcomers and hopes to see more come in the days ahead.
The pastor said the congregation is a committed group that works together to see the church thrive and that unity was needed in recent years when Jackson had to have two surgeries to remove a brain tumor.
“East Sixth Street was a champ through both of these surgeries. I feel blessed to be associated with a congregation with a whole lot of love,” he said.
Now, as the church celebrates its centennial, it hopes to build on the theme of unity.
Jackson said one of the ways church members hope to do that is through a Unity Service that will be part of their anniversaries festivities on Oct. 9. He said the church will worship together with Wildewood Christian Church as a sign that they are one in Christ.
“We want people to understand that we are on the same team,” he said.
Meanwhile, Jackson said he and his congregation are particularly excited to host the Rev. Teresa “Terri” Hord Owens, general minister and president of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada, as guest speaker at the church's centennial service set for Oct. 13. Owens, an Indiana native, became the first black person to lead the denomination and the second woman when she was elected to the post in 2017.