A Founding Story That Begins on the Mississippi
Pilgrim Baptist Church stands at 732 Central Avenue West on Saint Paul's near west side, where its sanctuary has held continuous worship since 1930. The congregation's origins, however, reach back to 1863 and a group of Black migrants who fled Boone County, Missouri in search of work and freedom. Some accounts say they were smuggled aboard the steamer War Eagle; others describe Reverend Robert Thomas Hickman and his followers on a raft that drifted down the Mississippi until it was collected and towed upstream by a steamboat. Either way, the people who came ashore at Fort Snelling called themselves the Pilgrims, and they brought with them a prayer life that would outlast their journey.
Hickman, who had been born into slavery in Missouri, had been taught to read by his master and permitted to preach to other enslaved people. In Saint Paul, he gathered the newcomers for prayer meetings in downtown homes before renting the lodge room of the God Temple in the Concert Hall Building on Third Street. Receiving mission status from the First Baptist Church of St. Paul in January 1864, the group worshipped separately under Hickman's direction for two more years. On November 15, 1866, Hickman and a small company - including his wife, Fielding Combs, Henry Moffitt, John Trotter, and Giles Crenshaw - formally organized Pilgrim Baptist Church. A baptismal service on the banks of the Mississippi capped three years of patient effort, and Minnesota's oldest and largest predominantly Black Baptist church was born.
A Building With a Long Memory
The church the Pilgrims built first stood on Sibley near Morris Street, with stone and wood construction and seating for three hundred. After early moves to Cedar Street and Thirteenth Street and to Cedar and Summit Avenue, Pilgrim settled at its current Central Avenue West address. The present sanctuary and Fellowship Hall were planned and built during the pastorate of Reverend Dr. Lee Ward Harris, who arrived in 1922 and shaped much of what members still see on Sundays. Harris launched Vacation Bible School the same year he arrived, edited and published the church's first bulletin called the Informer, and served on boards ranging from the Urban League to the American Baptist Convention. His wife organized the L. W. Harris Gospel Chorus in 1938 and coined the phrase "Pilgrim, the Church of Lofty Friendship," which members still use.
Inside the sanctuary, the visual centerpiece is a set of stained glass windows installed in 1975. Spearheaded by longtime Trustee Nathaniel Galloway Sr., the windows portray church symbols alongside portraits of Pilgrim's pastors and of Dr. Martin Luther King III. Music has long lived here as well: an Espey pipe organ arrived during the early twentieth century after Nellie Francis traveled to New York to convince the Carnegie Foundation's organ committee that Pilgrim deserved the gift, and a Wicks pipe organ replaced it in 1958. A Moeller organ built in Hagerstown, Maryland was installed in the 1970s. The Pilgrim Legacy Wing, completed under Pastor Charles L. Gill with an elevator and additional space, made the building fully accessible to seniors and worshippers with mobility needs.
The site carries a civic memory too. The original wooden structure on the lot once housed both the St. Paul Urban League and the local chapter of the NAACP at their founding, and the building itself is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Pilgrim has also been formally recognized for its connection to the Underground Railroad. Two members, Deacon Frank Boyd and Deacon Alexander W. Jordan, helped found the National Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and the Pullman Porters' Benefit Association, embedding the congregation in the wider struggle for Black labor rights.
Three Ministries Under One Roof
Pilgrim organizes its life around three core ministries, each with its own affiliated groups and rhythms. Worship Ministry sees worship as an act of honoring God with extravagant love and humility both inside and outside the church body. Under its umbrella sit the Senior Ushers, Junior Ushers for ages eight to eighteen, K.I.D.S. Church (Kids In Divine Service), and the Music and Fine Arts division. Christian Education strengthens marriages, children, and foundational biblical knowledge through the Sunday Morning Bible Fellowship, Youth Sunday School, the Nursery and Cradle Roll, the Blessed Saintz youth ministry for grades seven through twelve, the Rooted young adults fellowship, Couples Ministry, Vacation Bible School, Biblical Pageant, and the scholarship program. Outreach Ministry carries the congregation's zeal beyond the building. Its affiliated groups include Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, and Girl Scouts, the Comfort Circle, Health and Wellness, the Men of Courage club, the Friday Outreach team, and the Nehemiah Social Justice ministry, along with separate women's and men's ministries that meet adults of every age.
The Board of Trustees oversees the financial and physical life of the church. Its members manage the budget, contracting, fundraising policy, and human resources under the Church Constitution, and they meet on the Tuesday following the first Sunday of each month. Within the Board sit the Finance, Audit, Building and Grounds, and Legacy Tree committees. The Legacy Tree itself is a donor recognition project: for a tax-deductible gift of $250 or more, members and supporters can inscribe a name on a commemorative leaf or rock, building what the church describes as "a living history" for generations to come.
Sunday Morning and the Wider Week
Worship at Pilgrim follows a steady weekly pattern. Adults gather for Sunday Morning Bible Fellowship at 8:30 a.m., followed by Youth and Teen Sunday School at 9:45 a.m. The Sunday Worship Service begins at 10:00 a.m. and is livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook Live, with recordings available afterward for anyone who cannot be present. The 10:00 a.m. service is the heart of the week, with choirs, praise dancers, and the full ministerial staff participating throughout the year.
The midweek rhythm moves online. On Wednesdays at noon, members join a prayer conference call; at 7:00 p.m., they gather again for a Bible study conference call; and at 8:00 p.m., the Bible Book Club meets over Zoom under the facilitation of Reverend Dr. Stephanie Burrage. The Pilgrim Baptist Church app, available through the Church by Ministry One platform, keeps members connected with daily devotions, the calendar, and giving tools between gatherings.
Newcomers are told simply to wear what makes them comfortable, whether jeans or Sunday best. The congregation believes that God does not judge by clothing, and the ushers make a point of greeting every guest warmly on Sunday morning. The ushers' own story runs deep within the church: when men were called to war, the women of Pilgrim took over the role, and to this day more women than men serve in the usher family. Several members have served fifty, sixty, even seventy years, and the ministry describes itself as "a mission of service" that hands out fans, tissues, programs, and offering envelopes with the same care each week.
Music, Movement, and the Sound of the Building
Pilgrim has long been known as a singing and dancing church. Voices of Unity, the L. W. Harris Gospel Chorus, the Cherubim, the Praise Team, and the William O. White (WOW) men's choir each carry a piece of the congregation's musical history, with new voices stepping into leadership as older choirs retire their robes. Members are encouraged to join the Mass Choir or to step into the video and sound ministry, which keeps the livestream running and the in-house technology humming.
Praise dance is woven into the life of the church as well. The Worship Him Through Dance ministry and the Blessed Saintz Praise Dancers perform on Sundays and at special services throughout the year, with the youth creating original choreography in addition to learning traditional pieces. The combination of choir, orchestra, organ, and movement gives Sunday services their full-throated character, with the building itself amplifying the sound.
Scouting and the Next Generation
For more than a century, Pilgrim has hosted one of the region's strongest scouting programs. Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts meet at the church, and the congregation has produced Eagle Scouts whose testimonies have been heard at Twin Cities scouting breakfasts and at the National Baptist Convention Fun Fest that Pilgrim once hosted. In 2018 Eagle Scout Ahmad McGruder of Troop 9061 delivered his Scout's testimony at the Million Dollar Day for Scouting breakfast at the Intercontinental Hotel Riverfront in St. Paul and again at Base Camp Fort Snelling. Scouts from Pilgrim's pack and troop have participated in the Order of the Arrow, the national honor society of the Boy Scouts, and the church is one of the few congregations in the Twin Cities where scouts can move from Cub Scouts through Eagle rank without leaving their church family.
Alongside scouting, the Blessed Saintz youth ministry for grades seven through twelve, Vacation Bible School in the summer, and the Deacon Alexander B. Jordan Scholarship give young people pathways from Sunday School to college. The Jordan Scholarship, named for the Pilgrim member and Deacon who helped found the Pullman Porters' Benefit Association, provides an initial $1,000 award to graduating high school seniors who are active members, with an additional $1,000 renewable each year for students who maintain a 3.0 grade point average within four years of graduation. Monogrammed Bibles are presented to high school graduates each spring to mark the transition.
The Senior Pastor and the Ministerial Team
Reverend Dr. Charles L. Gill, D.Min., has served as Senior Pastor since 2004 and is the twenty-first pastor of Pilgrim Baptist Church. Born in Brooklyn, New York on May 10, 1961, Gill is the eldest son of Carmen and Charles Gill of Gill Photographers in St. Albans, New York. He married the educator Adrian Annette Browne, daughter of Dr. John and Mrs. Ann Browne of Atlanta, Georgia, on July 13, 1991. He holds a B.A. from Nyack College, an M.A. and M.Div. from Morehouse School of Religion at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, and a Doctor of Ministry from Drew University, where he specialized in Worship, Spirituality, and Preaching. In March 2016 he was inducted into the Martin Luther King Board of Preachers at Morehouse College.
Before Pilgrim, Gill served as associate minister at Zion Baptist Church in Ambler, Pennsylvania; Antioch Baptist Church North in Atlanta; and on the pastoral staff of Concord Baptist Church of Christ in Brooklyn, New York. He is affiliated with the National Baptist Convention USA, Inc., and has served as Second Vice President of the Minnesota State Convention. He has also been installed as Dean of the Congress of Christian Education of the Minnesota State Baptist Convention and has served as President of the St. Paul Black Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance. His civic work includes MABSSCO (Mid-American Baptist Social Service Corporation), the St. Paul Area Council of Churches, and ISAIAH.
He is supported by an associate ministerial team that includes Reverend Fredrick Gillespie, D.Min.; Reverend Patrick Burrage, who oversees the Young Adult Ministry; Reverend Dr. Stephanie Burrage, who also serves in the Young Adult Ministry and facilitates the Bible Book Club; and Reverend Gerald Dodd, who oversees Children and Youth Ministry. Together they preach, teach, and visit the congregation across its many ministries. The Senior Ushers describe their work as a calling that "once you start, is a lifetime of service," and the church's wider mission statement sums up the team's shared purpose: "a Bible Based, Christ-Centered Church with relevant ministries that empower every generation to live as disciples of Jesus Christ; Praising, Learning and Living God's Word."
Supporting the Work
Members and friends can support Pilgrim's ministries in several ways. The ShelbyNEXT Giving app and text-to-give line at 651-243-9270 handle recurring and one-time gifts; checks may be mailed to the church or dropped in the Grotto side door mailbox; and the church offers planned giving options including charitable gift annuities, stock transfers, donor-advised funds, and life insurance beneficiary designations. The Legacy Tree project allows donors to inscribe a leaf or rock for a tax-deductible gift of $250 or more, with donations directed to the Legacy Tree Committee at the church's Central Avenue address.
For those new to Pilgrim, the Wednesday prayer and Bible study conference calls, the Sunday morning Bible fellowship, and the online sermon archive offer several low-pressure ways to begin. The Pilgrim Baptist Church app, the YouTube channel, and the Facebook page keep the congregation's worship, music, and teaching available to anyone who wants to follow along, and the church's calendar keeps the rhythm of services, meetings, and special events visible throughout the year. Whether members come to the sanctuary on Central Avenue West or join the livestream from across the country, Pilgrim continues to gather as it has since 1866 - by faith, by pilgrimage, and by the long memory of a people who came north and made themselves at home.