The Trent House Association will present a virtual talk on the Greater Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church of Trenton. Rev. Dr. Charles F. Boyer will discuss the history and current mission of this historic congregation. The free program will be held on Thursday, May 5, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. via Zoom at https://tinyurl.com/GreaterMtZion. Capacity is limited and pre-registration at https://tinyurl.com/May5Talk is recommended. A pay-as-you-wish donation is appreciated and can be made by PayPal at https://williamtrenthouse.org/donation.
Greater Mount Zion AME Church, located on Pennington Avenue in Trenton, is the oldest Black congregation in Trenton, being first incorporated as “The Religious Society of Free Africans of Trenton” in 1811. Richard Allen, founder of the American Methodist Episcopal denomination, helped organize the Society into one of its first churches in 1816. Since then Mount Zion, now Greater Mount Zion, AME Church has been a vital force in Trenton’s history. Over the past 200+ years the Church has built and rebuilt its worship space and, among other firsts, founded the first nursery school in Trenton for Black children and became the first church to establish a credit union.
Rev. Dr. Charles F. Boyer is a third-generation AME preacher and holds a Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry from Payne Theological Seminary. He is senior pastor for Greater Mount Zion AME Church and is founder and executive director of Salvation and Social Justice, a non-partisan organization that is a leading Black faith-rooted advocate for racial justice and the eradication of mass incarceration. He has been recognized as a Game Changer by the NAACP, a Torch Bearer by the ACLU, a Movement Maker by NJ Working Families, and a Community Servant by NJ Citizen Action. He received the Making Democracy Work award from the League of Women Voters.
The William Trent House Museum is a National Historic Landmark in the Crossroads of the American Revolution National Heritage Area and on the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail. The Museum is dedicated to sharing the authentic history of the house, property, and people with our communities, connecting the past with today and tomorrow. Owned by the City of Trenton, it is operated by the Trent House Association, which is supported by the generosity of its members and donors; by grants from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, the New Jersey Cultural Trust, the New Jersey Historic Trust, and the Mercer County Cultural and Heritage Commission with funding from the New Jersey Historical Commission; and by contributions from New Pod City, NJM Insurance Group, and Orion General Contractors. For more information, visit https://williamtrenthouse.org.
