OUR HISTORY

 
 

History of the Canaan Baptist Church

The Canaan Baptist Church was organized on August 6, 1950, By the late Rev. W. M. McGriff. Our first meeting was held in the living room of the Pastor’s house at 23 Madison Avenue, Newark, New Jersey. There were twenty-one members present at our first meeting.
 
Our Certificate of Incorporation was received on March 25th, 1952. As our membership grew, we decided to seek larger quarters, so that we could continue to grow. We were successful and moved to 637 Bergen Street, Newark, New Jersey in November of 1953. We continued to grow spiritually and financially. We then search for a real church home. Finally, we were able to find a site at 215-217 Avon Avenue, Newark, New Jersey. We marched in our new church home on the 4th Sunday in November 1956. We completed paying our mortgage on May 15th 1964.
 
We were making plans to renovate our building, when fire destroyed our church in July, 1968. We were fortunate to find a new church home after moving about from one place to another. This was when we came to 131 Pomona Avenue, Newark, New Jersey. We marched in on the 3rd Sunday in January, 1970.
 
We praise God for how He continues to keep us in His care. We continue to be committed to the high calling of Jesus Christ.