Over the past few months, Mount Vernon Avenue on the city’s Near East side, has welcomed a new house of worship in the form of the St. James Christian Center located where Unity Baptist Church once sat. Previously located off of 161 in a shopping center area, the St. James Christian Center now resides in the historic Bronzeville neighborhood. Once thriving thoroughfares, Mount Vernon Avenue and Long Street formed the basis of the Bronzeville community, a neighborhood that fashioned itself a city within a city that had its own mayor and city council.
The name Bronzeville first appeared in Chicago in the 1920s as the preferred vernacular to refer to people of African descent rather than colored, Negro and other labels. Because Blacks come in all shades James Gentry of the Chicago Bee believed that Bronze was a more accurate description of the many hues that comprise the Black race. Hence, the naming of a Bronzeville community on Chicago’s Southside. In the years following the great depression the Bronzeville idea found its way to Columbus, Ohio, resulting in the election of Rev. N.L. Scarborough of Trinity Baptist Church as Columbus’s first mayor of Bronzeville. Given this storied history the St. James Christian Center could not have picked a better area to relocate than the area known as Bronzeville.
Headed by the dynamic and immaculately tailored Bishop James DeLaney, the church offers two Sunday services, one at 9:00 am and the other at 10:30 am. People are encouraged to come as they are. Complementing the good bishop is the lovely First Lady Shawntreece DeLaney. The two make a striking couple. Then, of course, there is the venerable Mother DeLaney, the matriarch of the church who adds a healthy dynamic with her own style that is uplifting, humorous and inspiring.
People visiting the St. James Christian Center for the first time might do a double take as some older folks might find a resemblance between the good Bishop DeLaney and the late great Rev. Adam Clayton Powell of Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem New York. While the Bishop may not possess Powell’s fiery delivery, his message is no less powerful.
A small but consistent flock, the congregation continues to grow as people of all ages have found themselves drawn to the upbeat atmosphere that features sermons and brief presentations that attendees can apply to their everyday lives. In some ways the St. James Christian Center is like the typical African American Church, yet, at the same time, different. The services are a breath of fresh air. Of course, there is music, but featured prominently is the bishop’s relationship with the congregation. If they seem to be like old friends that is because many of them are. As with many Black churches call and response is on full display. However, Bishop DeLaney’s preachings are a combination of motivational vignettes, lessons learned, affirmations and teachings in Black history.
There is no strict dress code artificially enforced by one’s peers. The St. James Christian Center is no, as the old southern Black preachers use to say, “silk stocking” church. There are no divisions by class, income or education. Visitors will not find the collection plate being passed around every fifteen minutes as is the case in some other historically Black churches. This is a classy, yet earthy and down-home house of worship where the word of God is made plain by the good Bishop DeLaney and received by all who is open to his message. For those looking to join a church the St. James Christian Center is the place to be.
Judson L. Jeffries, PhD, MPH, is Professor of African American and African Studies at The Ohio State University.