Church History
Our Origin
Union Methodist Church was the name of our church with Rev. Samuel Gray as Pastor. The membership had fallen away and Rev. Gray left. The church was rundown and unkept..
God put it on the heart of Mr. Mack Mills to ask permission of the city of Ypsilanti to repair the building to hold church services. After much persuasion and the giving of his vow that he would repair the building before services began. After the building was inspected, Mr. Mills and his wife, Blanche decided to change the name and denomination of the church. The new name would be the Metropolitan Community Baptist Church.
On April 11, 1954, Rev. Dr. S. L. Roberson, an associate minister of Second Baptist Church of Ypsilanti, and the son of Rev. Garter Roberson, Sr. was called to preach. One of Pastor Roberson’s vision was to give something back to the community, So, with the church family agreeing with his vision in 1985, the Harriet Commerce Center was born and in 1990, the Center was incorporated.
On December 4, 2010, our beloved Pastor of 56 years made his transition to be with the Lord. Rev. Eddie F. Eddins served as Interim Pastor. Rev. Eddins served as Interim Pastor for some time, but on February 16, 2013, the church membership voted unanimously for Rev, Eddins as its new Pastor.
During the 2023 year, our previous Pastor, Rev. Eddie Eddins announced that because of health problems and not wanting to slow down the progress of the church that he, through much prayer, had decided to step down and become Pastor Emeritus/Dean of Scriptures of Metropolitan.
A Pastoral Search Committee was formed and met October 14, 2023 -and a search began for a new pastor. After much deliberation, with aid of the Holy Spirit, the committee brought forth to the church membership a candidate that met all of the qualifications that had been set for a new Pastor. The congregation voted in Rev. Carnel H.L. Richardson as the Pastor of Metropolitan Memorial Baptist Church.
On July 1st, 2024, Rev. Richardson officially became Pastor Elect of the Metropolitan Memorial Baptist Church. Rev. Richardson has begun his Pastoral Leadership with a five year plan for Metropolitan where he has outlined for us a vision of Serving Christ, Building Community, and Loving People.
