An East Side Congregation at a Crossroads
Second Ebenezer Church stands along Dequindre Road on Detroit's east side, a stretch of the city now officially named Bishop Edgar L. Vann Boulevard in honor of the pastor who has led the congregation since 1976. The road that runs past the church's front doors has been renamed for the man who rebuilt it, a quiet marker of how deeply the parish is tied to its neighborhood. From a small, struggling congregation on the brink of foreclosure five decades ago, Second Ebenezer has grown into a multi-generational body of believers whose ministry reaches across the city of Detroit and well beyond.
Bishop Edgar L. Vann II, Senior Pastor Since 1976
Senior Pastor Bishop Edgar L. Vann II began leading Second Ebenezer in 1976, continuing the legacy of his father, a noted religious leader in Detroit for more than fifty years. When he arrived, the church was on the verge of insolvency and foreclosure. Today the congregation numbers in the thousands of members and partners, supported by a staff of executive pastors, ministry directors and volunteer teams. Beyond the pulpit, Bishop Vann founded Vanguard Community Development Corporation in 1995, a nonprofit that has invested more than sixty-five million dollars in housing, commercial redevelopment, community programs and youth initiatives in Detroit's North End. He also serves on the boards of the Henry Ford Health System, the Downtown Detroit Partnership and the Mayor's Workforce Development Board, and leads EVM Enterprises and Edgar L. Vann & Associates.
Pastor Sheila R. Vann and the Executive Team
Pastor Sheila R. Vann serves as Executive Pastor, a role she has held since May 2018, though she has supported the ministry of Second Ebenezer for more than forty-five years. A licensed minister since 2002 and ordained Elder since 2008, she founded Women of the Word (WOW), the women's ministry that birthed D.R.E.A.M. Girls, a teen mentoring program for young women. She is a graduate of the Detroit Institute of Commerce Business College and Ecumenical Theological Seminary, and has been honored as Female Minister of the Year by Gamma Phi Delta Sorority, Inc., and named among the most Influential Black Women in the City of Detroit by the Women's Informal Network.
Surrounding the Bishop and Executive Pastor is an executive team that carries the daily operations of the church: a Chief Administrative Officer, a Chief Operations Officer, a Director General, an Executive Assistant to the Bishop, and the pastoral staff who lead specific ministries across the campus and beyond.
Sunday Worship on Dequindre
Second Ebenezer gathers each Sunday at 10:00 a.m. for its main Worship Experience, with the service interpreted in American Sign Language for the Deaf community at every gathering. The service blends preaching, teaching, congregational praise and musical worship led by the Music Ministry's vocal and instrument ensembles. For those unable to attend in person, the SEC Online Campus, led by Pastor David Ridgeway, extends the congregation's reach through a livestream and online presence.
Music, drama and media are not afterthoughts at Second Ebenezer. The A.C.T.S. (Anointed Christian Theatrical Support) ministry stages dramatic presentations, writes scripts, directs and produces for worship services and special events. The Multimedia Ministry handles the audio and visual production that carries the service both inside the building and out to online viewers.
The Culture: A Hub for Young People
Children, youth and young adults find a single front door at The Culture, the church's youth and family hub led by Pastor Jor'dawn Bowers. Anchored in Psalm 127:3, The Culture feeds into mentoring programs and the College Ministry that together serve every stage of a young person's walk with the church. The Circle of Brotherhood (COB) is a year-round mentoring program for young men ages nine through eighteen, covering character education, academic enrichment, peer pressure, drugs, discrimination, and budget and finance. D.R.E.A.M. Girls reaches young women through the women's ministry, and the College Ministry connects college-aged members and alumni in mutual support and networking. Got Next, the young adult ministry for ages eighteen to thirty-five, focuses on mentorship, discipleship and leadership development for the generation the church says is already here.
Men, Women, Seniors and Families
The Master's Men's Ministry is the spiritual arm for men at Second Ebenezer, gathering for prayer, Bible study, inspiration and fellowship events. The women of the church find their home in Women of the Word (WOW), with Fresh Oil Encounters, outreach and fellowship activities throughout the year. EPICS, Experienced People in Christ's Service, is the ministry for mature adults age fifty-five and above, offering learning, recreation, service and spiritual development opportunities. The Comforters Ministry provides presence, compassion and grief support at family hours, funerals, seminars and trainings for bereaved members and their extended families. SEC Care Communities are small-group settings designed to connect members to God, to the church, to their purpose and to one another.
The Deaf Ministry and ASL Access
Second Ebenezer takes seriously its call to serve the hearing impaired. The Deaf Ministry works to address the spiritual needs of the Deaf community, providing an ASL interpreter at the 10:00 a.m. Worship Experience every Sunday and offering interpretation for church events whenever possible. The congregation sees the Deaf family as part of its core identity, with programming that aims to help every member find faith, friends and a future in God.
Veterans, Prison Outreach and Workforce Development
Eb VET CONNECT serves men and women veterans at the church who are readjusting to civilian life after military service. The Prison Ministry provides spiritual care, life-skills support and mentoring to people currently incarcerated in local facilities and to those re-entering the community after release. EbSource is a workforce development program offering soft-skill training, job fairs and basic computing instruction for online applications, all aimed at helping Detroiters secure and maintain employment. EMRT, the Emergency Medical Response Team, is staffed by trained and certified personnel who provide medical support at worship services and church events.
The Help Hub and Community Partnerships
A dedicated Help Hub gathers the church's external ministries under one roof, with a hotline (866-867-4821) and a roster of community partnerships that connect members and neighbors to resources. Hope in the City, the church's Season of Giving, has set a goal of reaching fifteen thousand households in the metro area. Bishop Vann's Vanguard Community Development Corporation, founded in 1995, has been the secular arm of this commitment, channeling tens of millions of dollars into housing and commercial redevelopment in the North End.
What the Church Believes
Second Ebenezer describes itself as a Christ-centered, Word-based, Holy Spirit-driven, culturally conscious and socially aware body of believers called to make a difference in a dismal world through preaching, teaching, worship, praise, discipleship and personal development. The church holds to a traditional evangelical statement of faith: the Bible is the inspired, inerrant and infallible Word of God; there is one God eternally existent in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit; Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, born of a virgin, crucified for our sins, raised from the dead, ascended to the Father's right hand and coming again in personal, visible return. Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, apart from good works, baptism or church membership. The church believes in divine healing through believing prayer, the eternal security of the true believer, the goal of spiritual maturity through obedience and the indwelling Holy Spirit, and the practice of water baptism and the Lord's Supper.
Becoming a Member and Growing Deeper
Newcomers are welcomed through the New Membership Ministry, which handles intake, communication, teaching and follow-up, guiding new members from their first connection into Christian discipleship. Membership classes, baptism registration and baby dedication orientations are all available online, with the Help Hub connecting visitors to next steps. KLBI, the Kingdom Life Bible Institute, offers structured biblical education for those who want to go deeper in study of the Word.
Giving, Prayer and Connection
Second Ebenezer teaches that giving is an act of worship, planned and given with both passion and purpose. Members and friends can give through Tithe.ly, PayPal, Givelify, Zelle, Venmo, debit or credit card, or by mail. A prayer request form connects those in need with the Intercessors Ministry, a team that prays daily for the church, ministry leaders, lay persons, the community, foreign missions and the unsaved.
Two Pastors, One Long Road
The church's current chapter is anchored by the long partnership of Bishop Edgar L. Vann II and Pastor Sheila R. Vann, whose decades of ministry are woven through nearly every program of the church. As the congregation moves toward its fiftieth anniversary under Bishop Vann's leadership, the family of Second Ebenezer continues to mark its place on Detroit's east side as a congregation defined less by its building than by the people who walk through its doors, serve through its ministries and carry its name out into the neighborhoods of the city.