History of Greater Friendship Baptist Church

On April 6, 1900, Rev. E. Thompson and twelve spiritual followers formed what would later become known as Friendship Baptist Church. The first congregation met in a small wooden building on Spruce Street.

The E. Thompson Club was formed to support the church, and after several years, Rev. Thompson left to plant seeds elsewhere for the Lord. Rev. R. W. Lawrence became the new pastor.

Rev. Thompson returned to Friendship, and under his second pastorate, the church continued to grow, until Rev. Thompson was again called to another city. Rev. Allen T. Dixon assumed leadership, and inspired by the generosity of the members, he headed the reconstruction of the church so that its entrance faced Cypress Street. Mother Hunt, who ran an orphanage on what is now George Engram Blvd, donated the bell that is still ringing in our church tower.

After five years, Rev. Dixon was called to Philadelphia. Rev. D;Alpha Terry became the interim pastor for one year while the congregation searched for its next pastor. That next leader would be the Rev. Roy Henry Whittaker, who served for seven years. Under his leadership, the church established a youth choir, with Earlie Mae Williams as their pianist. Several other ministries were formed, strengthened, and nurtured.

In 1947, Rev. Joseph James Jenkins became pastor and served for fifteen years. Irreconcilable differences caused the church to split, and Rev. Jenkins left to form the New St. James Missionary Baptist Church a few blocks west of Friendship.

Rev. James Clarence Wise was called to be the next pastor. Under his leadership, the church was renovated, and was labeled as “greater”. The church soon became known as Greater Friendship Baptist Church. Rev. Wise served for two years.

On March 20, 1965, the Lord sent Rev. Dr. J. Cecil Bentley to lead our flock. His smiling, friendly manner led to a thirty-year long marriage between pastor and people. Under his leadership, Greater Friendship became well known in the County and the State, and stood as a beacon of light for the community. During his pastorate, Greater Friendship weathered many storms, including a fire in February, 1980 that almost destroyed the church. While the congregation worshipped at Bethune Cookman College, local churches of all denominations came together to help raise money for repairs, and in March of 1982, Dr. Bentley held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for our newly remodeled church.

During his pastorate, Pastor Bentley’s loss of his eyesight, but never his vision for the church, and on March 26, 1995, the church bestowed upon him the honorary title of Pastor Emeritus. A young man by the name of Rev. John Wesley McKenzie, who had served as Dr. Bentley’s assistant, became the new pastor in March of 1995. Seven months into his pastorate, the church faced yet another fire. In October of 1995, an arsonist broke into the church and started a fire with the church choir robes, which resulted in $70,000 in damages. The church was completely repaired in six months.

Rev. McKenzie led the church in a beautification project called Vision 2000 at a cost of $300,000, which turned the church into a magnificent edifice. In addition, with an eye to the future, the church purchased two parcels of adjacent land, which included a house and two vacant lots. Rev. McKenzie was also the inspiration for the start of a new daycare, Friendship Academy, which became a showplace of service to the community. Rev. McKenzie served the church for seven years, resigning in April of 2003.

In April of 2003, the Rev. Dr. L. Ronald Durham, who had joined Greater Friendship upon his retirement as pastor of First Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Newark, N.J. became our interim pastor. By August of that same year, the church unanimously decided to select Dr. Durham as the 11th pastor of Greater Friendship Baptist Church.

Knowing that it had long been the vision of the church to develop its vacant property on Charles Street, under his leadership the church voted to embark on an aggressive building project to construct an 8,000 sq foot state-of-the-art Child Care Learning Center. Opened in March of 2008, the new Christian childcare learning center called Friendship Academy a Gold Seal Accredited center nurtures the lives of 115 young children from the surrounding areas, and will no doubt become known as the premier childcare learning center in Volusia County.

Dr. Durham immediately began to befriend the pastors in Daytona Beach and called a meeting of several dozen pastors at the church from which was established The Daytona Beach Black Clergy Alliance and he served as their first president.

His leadership in the Christian community, and work with Bethune Cookman University led the University to confer upon him an honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree in 2007. In 2010 Dr. Durham was elected to the Board of Trustees at the Great Bethune Cookman University.

With each new pastor, Greater Friendship Baptist Church continues to lift the name of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Our faith is anchored in the belief that We “can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth us!” (Philippians 4:13)