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Photos by Erin Nelson.
Union Missionary Baptist Church in the historic Rosedale neighborhood.
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Photos by Erin Nelson.
The Rev. Edward Steele sits in the original pews from 1887 at Union Missionary Baptist Church in the historic Rosedale neighborhood June 9.
Union Missionary Baptist Church, one of the historic churches in Rosedale’s Historic District, is looking to renovate and restore its 135-year-old building with the help of the Homewood Historic Preservation Commission.
Eddie Griffith, a member of the Homewood Historic Preservation Commission, said there have been long discussions between the commission and the church about needed renovations.
In 2019, the commission applied for a grant to conduct a historic-structures report, an evaluation that determines what structural renovations need to be done to a historic property, he said.
They didn’t get the grant but were able to pay for the report with funds appropriated by the City Council as well as help from the community, Griffith said.
The Historic Preservation Commission conducted the evaluation and gave the report to UMBC church leaders, he said. Though they can evaluate what parts of the church needed restoration, by law, the commission cannot fundraise for the church, Griffith said.
The commission held a meeting on May 24 to discuss the evaluation’s results and introduce people to UMBC’s history and congregation, in order to help the church garner community support, Griffth said.
The church has done some construction but there is still more work to do, Griffith said.
“The church was built by hand, and when I say by hand, the rocks were hand-carried over by where the high school was and they were individually placed on the church,” said Edward Steele, the pastor of Union Missionary Baptist Church. “We’re in the midst of trying to restore the church because the material that was used to put the rocks in place is starting to deteriorate and needs to be replaced, along with some of the flooring in the church.”
The church is fundraising money through accepting donations via Cash App, Steele said.
Steele said the church’s goal is to raise $150,000 for renovations but would like to raise at least $150,000 by November 13, the church’s 135th anniversary.
Steele said the church would like construction to start in early 2023 and complete the process by the summer.
UMBC is historic for multiple reasons, Steele said.
“It’s special because of the things it’s gone through and the time that it has gone through,” Steele said. “For a church to make it 135 years, God had to have special plans for that church. When I became pastor, my goal and my sight was to pray and ask God that we could allow this church to stand for another 135 years.”
The church was on the corner of 26th Avenue South even before Homewood existed. UMBC was founded in 1887, while the city around it wasn’t incorporated until 1926.
The church has acted as a “beacon of light for Rosedale at one point,” Steele said. When Rosedale High School was bombed in 1963, he said, the church was used to teach the students until the school could be rebuilt.
Steele said the church used to have about 300 members but has dwindled over the years as older members have died. UMBC currently has 20 members but is looking to expand its congregation, he said.
“Our church is an all-inclusive church,” Steele said. “That’s the motto that God has given me to use for the church, for the church to be an all-inclusive church where every member is valued, loved and respected. I don’t believe in an all-Black church and I don’t believe in an all-white church. I believe in God’s children worshiping together and that’s all of his children because if we can’t worship together down here, we won’t have the opportunity to do it up there.”
