Monumental Baptist Church has always had deep community roots, starting with the founding of this house of God in 1900 as a storefront ministry known as Mizpah Baptist Church. Under the direction of our first pastor, Reverend William Edwards, and the continued guidance of his successor Reverend C. H. Garlick, the church name was changed to exemplify the large calling God would place on our tiny church. The name change also acknowledged the huge responsibility to carry out God’s primary directive to share the Gospel with the world. In 1902 the church joined the New England Convention and started our journey of Christian growth beyond the borders of the city.

Monumental Baptist Church called Rev. William Sylvester Smith to the pastorate in 1903 and began to take shape as the church we know today.  The church was officially incorporated in 1905, and had joined the North Jersey Baptist Association and the Afro American Baptist State Convention. In 1905 the church also purchased 116 Lafayette Street as the first of many buildings on the Monumental campus. The church structure was expanded in 1908 and continued to thrive until Rev. Smith’s passing in 1943. After he was called home to the Lord, Monumental was stewarded by Rev. William Fitzgerald. His time as pastor was brief but momentous; he guided the last efforts to pay off the church’s mortgage and finish her renovations before passing away in 1944.

In 1944, Monumental Baptist Church called the dynamic Rev. Ercel Franklin Webb to the pastorate.  During his 42 years of service, Monumental began community outreach and involvement centered on a Christian commitment to missionary work, substantial financial gifts to community organizations, promotion of higher education and instruction on collective financial literacy and responsibility. The Monumental grounds grew from one building to many, and developed into a campus stretching several blocks within the Lafayette section of Jersey City, New Jersey.  After his retirement in 1986, Rev. Webb was succeeded by Rev. Dr. Willard Ashley Sr., who pastored Monumental for 10 years years. Following Rev. Ashley, the Rev. Joseph L. Jones, Sr. served as pastor of Monumental for 23 years up until the time of his retirement.

Today, Monumental Baptist Church remains a pillar of Christian worship and community engagement at the heart of the Lafayette section of Jersey City.  Under the leadership of Rev. Daryl Griffin, Sr. who was called to the pastorate in 2021, we are rebuilding, restoring, and reimagining the Monumental campus and how it can continue to be of Christian service, spreading the Gospel of Christ to all nations and reflecting the love of God in the world around us.