The Mount Pleasant Baptist Church gathers on Lincoln Avenue in Newark's North Ward, where for more than a century and a half it has served the city's Spanish-speaking community with Protestant worship, Bible study, and an active program of fellowship and mission. Organized in 1867, four years after the Emancipation Proclamation and long before the telephone or the electric light, the church is among the oldest continuously active congregations in the neighborhood. Every Sunday its members stream into a sanctuary where the sermon is preached in Spanish, the choir of Mount Pleasant Baptist Church leads the singing, and a Sunday school gathers an hour before the main service. The church is also a member of the wider American Baptist family and works with the American Baptist Home Mission Societies on leadership development for Hispanic pastors.
One Hundred Fifty-Eight Years on Lincoln Avenue
The congregation's own history opens with a meditation titled "Renovarse o Morir," a phrase that captures the spirit of a community that has chosen to keep adapting without losing its identity. The written history notes that Mount Pleasant was organized in 1867, when New Jersey's cities were still being rebuilt after the Civil War and Newark's immigrant neighborhoods were taking shape. The founders could not have imagined automobiles, airplanes, or the digital tools that now allow the church to keep in touch with members who cannot attend in person. Yet the central question the church asks of itself has not changed: what does the surrounding generation read in the lives of its members?
The history page anchors the congregation's identity in a single line of Scripture from Matthew 18:20: "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the middle of them." That verse, set against the realities of a mobile, multi-faith, twenty-first-century city, has become a kind of motto. The leadership frames the church as a letter that the surrounding community reads every day, asking whether the congregation still has a message that connects with the feelings and the needs of the people who live and work around it.
Pastor Rev. Handel F. Roberts and the Pastoral Office
Rev. Handel F. Roberts has served as pastor of the Hispanic ministry of Mount Pleasant Baptist Church since 2001. A native of Céspedes in Camagüey, Cuba, he first trained at the Eastern Cuba Baptist Seminary, where he graduated with a focus in theology, and later earned a Master of Arts in Theology and Pastoral Ministry from Eastern University. Under his leadership the church has emphasized pastoral care, spiritual formation, and the unity of a congregation that includes people from several Latin American countries as well as English-speaking members who join the bilingual youth program.
Roberts is described in the church's own materials as a steady, community-minded leader whose ministry has strengthened both the faith and the social fabric of the parish. He is the public face of the congregation and is regularly invited to preach and to teach at events that extend beyond the Newark building.
Sunday: Sunday School at Ten, Worship at Eleven
The Sunday rhythm of the church begins at 10:00 a.m. with Escuela Dominical, the Sunday school, which meets in the building on Lincoln Avenue under a separate board led by a president, vice president, and secretary, with its own pianist. The hour is set aside for classes by age, and the church describes it as one of the main ways newcomers first connect with the congregation.
At 11:00 a.m. the Servicio de Adoración begins. This is the principal weekly worship gathering of the church and is held entirely in Spanish. The order of service follows a traditional Baptist pattern of congregational singing, Scripture reading, prayer, the children's address, the sermon, an invitation, and the offering. The Coro Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, the church choir, regularly leads the music on Sunday mornings and on special holy days. The service is also broadcast on Zoom so that members who are traveling, ill, or living away from Newark can take part.
Midweek Prayer, Bible Study, and the Societies
The congregation's week does not end on Sunday. On Tuesday evenings at 7:30 p.m. the women of the church gather for a prayer meeting titled "Damas Unidas en Oración," or Ladies United in Prayer, which is hosted on Zoom and open to anyone who wishes to join. Wednesday nights at 7:30 p.m. bring the Estudio Bíblico y Oración, the midweek Bible study and prayer service, which is one of the longest-running programs of the church and where many of the adults in the congregation study the Word together.
On Friday evenings at 7:30 p.m. the Sociedades meet in the sanctuary. These are the small fellowship societies of the church, organized historically around age, gender, and shared interests, and they remain a central part of the social life of the parish. To make sure that members who are unwell or at home can still join, the Friday gathering is also carried on Zoom.
Young People at Mount Pleasant
The church takes its work with young people seriously. Two regular touchpoints are offered each week. The Grupo de Jóvenes meets on Thursday evenings at 7:00 p.m. in Spanish, while an English-language Youth Group meets on Saturdays at noon for teens and young adults who want to grow in faith in their own language. The Saturday class is offered in both Spanish and English, welcoming English-speaking youth alongside the Spanish-speaking majority of the parish.
Children are also a focus. The Ministerio Infantil, or Children's Ministry, is led by a director with a team of volunteers and works hand in hand with the Sunday school. Transportation is coordinated for children who need a ride to the building, and the ministry is present not only on Sundays but at many of the church's seasonal events.
Men, Women, and the Music of the Church
The men of the congregation have their own department, the Departamento de Caballeros, which hosts events such as the Cena de Caballeros, a fellowship dinner, and the work day titled "Hombres Unidos Trabajando en el Templo," when the men of the church gather at the building for cleaning and maintenance. The women's department, the Departamento de Damas, likewise organizes its own gatherings and frequently takes responsibility for seasonal celebrations such as the Día de las Madres, the Mother's Day service.
Music is central to the worship of the congregation. The Director of Music leads the church choir and the Sunday school pianist. The choir takes a leading role on Resurrection Sunday and other holy days, and instrumentalists support the congregational singing throughout the year.
Holy Week and the Church Calendar
Holy Week is one of the high points of the year at Mount Pleasant. The week opens with the Domingo de Ramos, the Palm Sunday service, led by Dr. Norma Roberts, and continues with a daily morning prayer meeting, the Matutino de Oración, held at 6:00 a.m. via Zoom from Monday through Saturday. On Wednesday and Thursday evenings the church gathers for special services, and Thursday brings the Cena y Santa Cena, the supper and Communion of Maundy Thursday, led by Pastor Roberts.
Good Friday is observed with a morning matutino and an evening Sermon de las Siete Palabras, the Seven Last Words, traditionally led by a laywoman of the church. Holy Saturday continues the matutinos, and the great week closes on Easter Sunday with both a sunrise gathering, the Matutino de Resurrección, and the main morning worship service of the Resurrection, with the choir of the church leading the music. Other seasonal moments on the calendar include a Christmas dinner, the Cena Navideña, a Thanksgiving breakfast and service, an Independence Day gathering, the Mother's Day and Father's Day services, and a recurring series titled "Conversaciones" that has focused on marriage and on the experience of older adults in Christian life.
Mission and Leadership Beyond Newark
Mount Pleasant is not only a local congregation. The history page quotes the Convención de Iglesias Bautistas Hispanas del Suroeste de los Estados Unidos, the American Baptist Hispanic convention of the Southwest, on the importance of being relevant to a new generation, and the church has put that conviction into practice by hosting regional leadership events. In cooperation with the Center for Continuous Learning of the American Baptist Home Mission Societies, Mount Pleasant has hosted the Conferencia de Liderazgo Intergeneracional, a one-day gathering designed to equip pastors, leaders, students, and seminarians in the discipline of intergenerational ministry. The conference is offered both in person at the Lincoln Avenue building and virtually, with recordings kept on the ABHMS course platform.
Within Newark itself, the Evangelism and Missions committee of the church, led by its president and vice president, keeps the congregation engaged in outreach. Christian Education, the Mayordomía y Finanzas committee, the Health Committee, the Order and Discipline committee, the Adornos committee that prepares the sanctuary for worship, the Translation committee that bridges the bilingual ministry, and the Audio y Publicidad committee that runs sound and communications all reflect a congregation that takes seriously the everyday work of being a church.
Joining the Congregation
Visitors to Mount Pleasant can expect a warm Spanish-speaking welcome, a traditional Baptist order of worship, and a building that is easy to find at 27 Lincoln Avenue in Newark. Sunday school begins at 10:00 a.m. and worship at 11:00 a.m. Midweek Bible study is on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., with additional opportunities to pray, study, and fellowship on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Anyone who would like to follow along from home can join the Sunday service, the Tuesday women's prayer, the Wednesday Bible study, or the Friday societies on Zoom through the Cultos Virtuales page. The church office can be reached at (973) 483-7025 or at mpbcnewark27@gmail.com, and the schedule of special events is posted on the Eventos page.