A Century on the West Side
New Morning Star M. B. Church has been a steady presence on Chicago's West Side since 1925. The congregation marked a full century of ministry in November 2025, gathering for a 100th anniversary gala and a milestone Sunday that looked back on a hundred years of baptisms, weddings, funerals, Bible studies, and choir Sundays. The four-word rhythm that has shaped the church from the start still sums up its purpose: the Word, worshipping, witnessing, working.
The church calls itself a landmark on the West Side and a community-oriented, family-centered, friendly, Bible preaching and teaching church. Its address, 206-08 S. Hamlin Blvd, sits in the 60624 ZIP code on Chicago's West Side, and the building has long been a familiar anchor for the surrounding neighborhood. The mail goes to P.O. Box 24720, Chicago, IL 60624, and the phone line - 773-826-3410 - connects visitors to the church office. Email reaches the church at nmschurchevent@gmail.com.
Sunday in the House: Sunday School and Worship
The Sunday schedule is simple and consistent. Sunday School for all ages opens the morning at 8:45 a.m., and the main worship service follows at 10:00 a.m. Pastor DeWayne F. Davis Sr. and First Lady Vanessa Davis greet first-time guests in the opening welcome, and the service is built around the Bible, with music and preaching centered on the passage being taught.
Visitors can expect a caring congregation ready to welcome them, a worship experience designed to draw the heart toward God, and preaching that walks carefully through a single text at a time. Children are welcomed too: care is available for infants during the worship service, and older children receive spiritual training from a group of caring leaders while the adults are in the main service.
Thirsty for the Word: Wednesday Bible Study
On Wednesday evenings at 7:30 p.m., Pastor Davis leads Thirsty for the Word, a live-streamed Bible study that has grown into a major part of the church's reach. The series began in November 2022 and, as of mid-2026, has run through more than 135 programs, covering series on family, marriage, the character of God, the Bible's one-another commands, healthy relationships, what the Bible does and does not say, getting right with God, and the victorious Christian life. The study is streamed on YouTube and is the natural place to plug in midweek for anyone who wants teaching that is expository, conversational, and rooted in everyday Christian living.
In addition to the online study, Wednesday evening Bible study groups meet in person at the church and in homes throughout the city. Hosts open their living rooms, and newcomers are placed in the group nearest their home.
The Pastor and the Leadership Team
Senior Pastor DeWayne F. Davis Sr. has shepherded New Morning Star for more than twenty-three years, having returned to his native West Side to take the pulpit in 2001. A Westinghouse High School graduate, he went on to study at the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle, Crossroads Bible College in Indianapolis, and Trinity College of the Bible and Theological Seminary, where he earned a B.A. in Bible and Theology. He is pursuing a master's degree in counseling.
Before coming to New Morning Star, Pastor Davis served as a musician, choir director, and youth director in several churches; directed urban ministries for Central Indiana Youth for Christ; founded Urban Impact, a nonprofit that reaches youth through neighborhood evangelism and discipleship in Indianapolis; and planted Triumph Community in Indianapolis. His preaching style is described as encouraging and practical expository preaching and teaching, and he often closes a thought with a phrase friends have come to recognize: "I've never gotten over my salvation." He has also written The Topical Book of Proverbs: Wisdom at Your Fingertips.
He is joined by First Lady Vanessa Davis, who leads the women's prayer call on Saturday mornings and shares in the church's ministry alongside her husband of more than three decades. The pastoral team is rounded out by Assistant Pastor Rev. Karl M. Nero, Associate Ministers Rev. Collis B. Smith Jr. and Rev. James Gentry, and Ministers in Training Benjamin Buckner III and Nathaniel Robinson Jr.
What to Expect on Your First Visit
First-time guests are welcomed warmly. The church wants visitors to feel relaxed and comfortable, and the music and worship are built around Biblical themes that are timeless rather than trendy. The atmosphere is family friendly, with care available for the youngest members during the service. From the pulpit, the preaching is sound expository preaching - the kind that walks carefully through a single passage and lets the text set the agenda for the sermon.
Biblical teaching is the central priority. The worship service is a time for the community to come together, learn, be encouraged, and be challenged by God's Word, and the same priority carries into the Sunday School hour, the midweek Bible study, and the smaller groups that meet in homes. Anyone considering a place of worship or relocating to the area is invited to come as a guest on a Sunday morning.
Ministries for Every Age
New Morning Star organizes its ministry around four streams that flow from Acts 2:42 - worship, fellowship, Christian education, and outreach. Several standing ministries give shape to that work.
Rising Stars Children's Ministry provides the spiritual training offered to children during the worship hour. Youth Ministry exists to help young people know Jesus Christ and find their joy and satisfaction in Him, deepening their understanding of the greatness of God and encouraging them in the pursuit of godliness.
Men's Ministry gathers the men of the church for service, fellowship, and an annual Father's Day Men's Choir. The choir prepares a set of songs each year through a series of rehearsals leading up to the June performance. Deacons Ministry supports the pastoral leadership in the practical life of the church.
Scholarship Ministry helps active student members pursue higher education. The scholarship is open to graduating high school seniors and GED graduates through their first five years of college or until age 24, and it carries expectations of active membership, ministry involvement, faithful tithing, and a Christian lifestyle. Freshmen are not held to a GPA minimum, but sophomores, juniors, and seniors must meet or exceed 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0 respectively. The deadline is the third Sunday in July each year.
Feeding the Neighborhood: The Food Pantry
Every Thursday from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m., the church opens its food pantry to the community. A committed group of volunteers distributes food with the goal that as many people as possible don't have to feel the pangs of hunger. The pantry's own description of its calling is straightforward: in a society where the appearance of neglect and self-centered elitism seem to rule, the ministry strives to be a beacon of light, boosting self-esteem, pride, and hope for neighbors who walk through the door.
1st Lady Prayer Call and Prayer Requests
On Saturday mornings at 7:00 a.m., First Lady Vanessa Davis leads the women of the church in a time of prayer by phone. The prayer call is open to the ladies of the church and is one of the regular rhythms of the women's ministry alongside the main worship service.
Anyone - member or not - can also submit a prayer request. Requests go to the pastoral team and are kept confidential.
What New Morning Star Believes
The church's doctrinal statement is laid out across sixteen sections, and the shape is clearly that of a Bible-believing, gospel-centered, evangelical Baptist church. New Morning Star teaches that the whole Bible in its original manuscripts is the inspired, inerrant Word of God, and that all Scripture centers on the Lord Jesus Christ in His person, work, first coming, and Second Coming.
God is one God in three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - equal in nature and worthy of equal homage. The church confesses the full deity and true humanity of Jesus Christ, His virgin birth, sinless life, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection, ascension, present intercession, and promised return. Salvation is by grace through faith in Christ alone, and the new birth is the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit through the Word.
The church teaches eternal security - that those truly saved are kept by God forever - along with the believer's assurance of salvation from the moment of faith. The ordinances of believer's baptism by immersion and the Lord's Supper are observed until Christ returns. The church expects a pretribulation rapture of the church, followed by a future tribulation, the Second Coming of Christ, and a millennial kingdom.
Two ordinances mark the life of the church. Baptism is the immersion of the believer in water, a symbol of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection and the believer's resurrection to newness of life. The Lord's Supper is the privilege of all believers, commemorating the Lord's death until He comes.
The church's motto captures the whole of it: Serving Christ, the Church, and the Community, anchored in Mark 10:45 - "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." The mission statement echoes the same shape: a community of believers committed to witnessing, discipling, worshipping, serving, and daily applying the Word of God in order to make an impact with the Gospel in the Chicagoland area, thereby fulfilling the Great Commission.
Sermons, Music, and Online Reach
Sunday morning worship and preaching are recorded and posted, and a steady stream of recent sermons is available online, with new messages typically uploaded each week. The most recent series in the Sunday pulpit has walked through the church in Matthew 16, with messages on Christ's identity, the origin of the church, and a two-part look at who runs the church from Ephesians 1. A regular midweek slot in the YouTube archive goes to Assistant Pastor Karl Nero, Minister Benjamin Buckner III, and others from the ministerial team.
Music is a serious part of the church's life. The annual Men's Choir Father's Day performance, the Christmas choir musical, and the rich catalog of gospel music on the YouTube channel give the congregation a chance to sing together and to invite the wider community in. A PDF with the men's choir lyrics is posted each year, and rehearsal tracks are listed so newcomers can prepare.
Getting Connected
Visitors ready to connect can email nmschurchevent@gmail.com or call 773-826-3410. Giving is available online through a secure portal, and livestreams of services and the Wednesday Bible study are posted to the church's YouTube channel. New members complete a required orientation class before their membership becomes active; the class walks through what the church believes, how the body is organized, and what is expected of every member.
From the doors on S. Hamlin to the livestream on YouTube, New Morning Star M. B. Church has spent a hundred years doing the same thing: opening the Bible, lifting up the name of Christ, and serving the West Side of Chicago one Sunday, one Wednesday, and one Thursday at a time.