.jpg)
GREATER TURNER CHAPEL
AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
A MESSAGE FROM OUR PASTOR
I would like to extend the warmest welcome to the guest and members of Greater Turner Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church. God has blessed Greater Turner Chapel with members who are anointed, gifted and talented in various areas that will allow us to minister to the needs of the community of Greensburg in St. Helena Parish and the surrounding area.
Greater Turner Chapel is a spiritual family that loves and is concerned about each other. Greater Turner Chapel has been placed in the community of Greensburg to minister to the concerns of its members and the people of the community. We live by the motto of “Serving God by Serving Others”. God has blessed us to serve the Greensburg community for over 151 years and we will continue to do our best to represent God by loving and ministering to the needs of the community.
To those who are not members of Greater Turner Chapel, we welcome you to join us for Worship on Sunday mornings. Come and see how God is blessing us. You are always welcome at Greater Turner Chapel A.M.E. Church.
May God Bless and Keep You!
Sincerely,
Rev. Dr. Moses A. Simms, Jr., Pastor
Greater Turner Chapel A.M.E. Church
Brief History
Greater Turner Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church, nicknamed “Cross Road”, is rich in history and tradition. It is composed largely by people of African descent, but is not exclusively for people of color. It has practiced total inclusion behavior and has welcomed all, who wanted to come in. Its membership includes whites and a few Indians.
It was called Cross Road because its property is located at a major cross road, about ½ mile west of the town of Greensburg, where Turner Chapel Road crosses Highway 1042. Its properties include two sanctuaries, a bell tower, a fellowship hall, a parsonage, a playing field and 23.97 recently acquired properties.
According to the Gordon Family records, of which Isaac Benjamin Gordon, a slave born in 1815 and bought his freedom (at the age of 50), donated land to Cross Road Church and St. Helena Parish 1-12 Training School. He is the father of Henry and grandfather of Earnest, Ulysses, Olevia, Leola, Isaac B, and Nathaniel. He encouraged his descendants not to sell to whites because many would cause trouble by taking land just by saying that it was theirs.
Its history has ties to the African Methodist Episcopal Church’s 12th Bishop Henry McNeal Turner, who was born ‘free’ instead of a slave. As the grandson of an African Prince, he left the farm and found employment in a lawyer’s office. He used his knowledge to help others throughout South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Louisiana. He also worked side with slaves in the cotton and corn fields.
This church also has ties to Richard Allen, the founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, who was a former slave, but decided that the freedom to worship compelled him and a few others, in 1787, to leave St. George Methodist Church in Philadelphia, because of its discriminatory practices of segregating its members by color.
This church’s history is further connected to John Wesley, who started Methodism in 1739, in order to improve people’s spiritual life, Wesley’s “Back to Jesus Movement” focused on personal Salvation and a personal Relationship with God.