A Hundred Years on Hillside Avenue
Located in Newark's Central Ward, Trinity Temple Seventh-day Adventist Church has stood at 35-37 Hillside Avenue for more than a century. The congregation organized in 1922, when its first members gathered for meetings on Chestnut Street in a member's home. From those modest beginnings, Trinity Temple grew into one of the historic Black Adventist congregations of Northern New Jersey, a community that has weathered the city's changes while keeping its doors open for worship, study, and outreach.
The church traces its identity to a long line of believers who wanted Trinity Temple to remain "a beacon of hope in its community" until the day the Lord says, "Well done." That hope is still visible in the busy Saturday schedule, the Wednesday night prayer line, and the Pathfinders club that introduces Newark's children to camping, service, and the Adventist story.
Saturday: The Heart of the Week
For Seventh-day Adventists, Saturday, the seventh day, sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, is the Sabbath, and Trinity Temple structures its week around it. The day begins at 10:30 a.m. with Sabbath School, held in person for both adults and children. Adults gather for the standard quarterly Bible lesson, while children head to their own classes down the hall. The two groups run side by side and end together at 11:45 a.m.
At noon, the congregation gathers for the Divine Worship Service, in person at the Hillside Avenue sanctuary and streamed live on YouTube. The service follows the traditional Adventist pattern of hymn singing, Scripture reading, congregational prayer, an offering, a children's story, and a sermon by the pastor or a guest minister. Communion is observed periodically and is open to all believing Christians; foot washing, a hallmark of Adventist communion services, accompanies it.
The day is not over at the close of worship. At 4:00 p.m., the Adventist Youth Society (AYS) meets in person for young people who want a more informal time of fellowship, testimony, and study. Together the four Saturday blocks (Sabbath School, worship, and AYS) give the day a worship rhythm that stretches from morning to late afternoon.
Wednesday and Friday: Keeping Connected Midweek
The week has its own rhythms. On Wednesday evenings, Trinity Temple opens its Power Prayer session at 6:30 p.m. on Zoom, a half hour of focused prayer before the main Prayer Meeting at 7:00 p.m. Both use the same Zoom link (Meeting ID 970 0394 1077) and continue until 8:00 p.m. The prayer line is open to anyone, member or neighbor, who wants to bring a request.
On Friday evenings at 7:30 p.m., the Adult Sabbath School Lesson Review gathers on a different Zoom line (Meeting ID 367 478 7806, with a call-in number at 929-205-6099). The lesson for the following Sabbath is reviewed and discussed, so newcomers can come prepared and longtime members can dig deeper into the quarterly study.
Sabbath School: The Heartbeat of the Church
Sabbath School is "the heartbeat of our church community." Superintendent Dr. Jean Straker-Darbeau leads a team of assistant superintendents (Derrick Hughes, Dexter Jones, Shelby McKnight, Dierra Robin, and Samuel Spence) with Sharon DeLagarde serving as secretary. Each Sabbath morning the team organizes classes for every age group, runs the mission spotlight, and plans outreach in the surrounding community.
The mission of Sabbath School is: "an important branch of the missionary work, not only because it gives to young and old a knowledge of God's word, but because it awakens in them a love for its sacred truths." Four goals guide the work: study of the Scriptures, fellowship, community outreach, and world mission outreach. Classes are open to visitors; you do not have to be a member to join a lesson group on any Sabbath morning.
Children and Youth: Adventurers and Pathfinders
Two of the most active ministries at Trinity Temple serve children and teens. The Newark Pioneer Adventurer Club welcomes children from pre-kindergarten through fourth grade. Children learn the Adventurer Pledge ("Because Jesus loves me, I will always do my best") and the Adventurer Law (a list of ten "Be" character traits: obedient, pure, true, kind, respectful, attentive, helpful, cheerful, thoughtful, reverent). The club's lessons are organized into five areas (Basic, My God, My Self, My Family, and My World) and intentionally weave Bible learning with hands-on activities.
For older youth, the Newark Pioneer Pathfinder Club is the next step. Pathfinder Director D'jenneth McLean leads a worldwide Adventist program that trains young people in leadership, camping and survival skills, the arts, nature, conservation, and vocational trades. Pathfinders earn honors by completing interactive modules, but the club's emphasis is service. Members help at downtown soup kitchens, collect food for neighbors in need, clean and maintain city and county parks, and visit the elderly. The aim is to develop "a service-oriented character and an intentional desire to share their Christian values in a loving and relational way."
For high schoolers and young adults, the Adventist Youth Society meets Saturday afternoons at 4:00 p.m. under the leadership of Denisha Banks. AYS complements the more structured Sabbath School hour with a more relaxed setting for testimony, music, and Bible study.
Pastor and Leadership Team
Trinity Temple's senior pastor is Dr. Pete A. Palmer, a fourth-generation Seventh-day Adventist whose father, Kenneth Palmer, retired as Superintendent of Education for the Allegheny East Conference, and whose mother, Pamela Palmer, served the same conference as a teacher and executive committee member. Dr. Palmer holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from the University of Maryland, a Master of Divinity from Andrews University Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. from Andrews, where his dissertation examined childhood trauma and faith maturity in Adventist pastors and seminarians. That work informs his goal of creating trauma-informed congregations.
Before coming to Trinity Temple, Dr. Palmer pastored Berea Temple in Baltimore, Willow Grove, Grace Tabernacle in Norristown, Berean Fellowship in Philadelphia, and Germantown, where he led the purchase of a 48,000-square-foot school building. He was elected Vice President for Administration of the Allegheny East Conference in 2017 and later served as its president. He has spoken in the Caribbean, East and West Africa, and South Korea, and in 2004 was part of the evangelistic team in The Gambia that held one of the largest Adventist baptisms in that country's history to that point.
He is joined at Trinity Temple by Associate Pastor Lance Moncrieffe, First Elder Roderick Spearman, Head Deacon David Forrester Jr., Head Deaconess Nyree Bearfield, and Head Clerk Nicole Roberts. The pastoral team teaches that "young people will be in the forefront as the three angels' messages are proclaimed for the last time before the second coming of Jesus," and the church's Pathfinder and AYS ministries reflect that conviction in practice.
Health, Temperance, and Men's Ministries
The Health and Temperance Ministry takes seriously the Adventist tradition of caring for the body as the temple of the Holy Spirit. Its motto, taken from Exodus 15:26, looks back to God's promise of healing for obedience. The team (Kenneth Knight, Clifton Burt, Hazel Forrester, Ina Davis, Frances Grant, and Norma Hairston) has organized Regeneration meetings on Mondays at 7:00 p.m., blood pressure and glucose screenings through the church's nursing department, a Wellness Challenge, and a "Let's Move Day" to encourage physical activity in the wider congregation.
The Men's Ministries of Trinity Temple gathers the men of the church for fellowship, study, and service. Like many Adventist men's groups, it focuses on building men as husbands, fathers, and leaders in the home and the congregation.
Family Life Ministry
The Family Life Ministry Department aims to "equip and empower family systems to foster better relationships with others and God." Under Larry Williams, the department serves parents, couples, and children with practical resources. The church has used its platform to point families to the New Jersey Coronavirus Hotline, the CDC, the State of New Jersey, and resources for talking with children about difficult events, as well as indoor activities and free online learning tools for kids. The department's outreach is practical and pastoral at the same time.
Bereavement and Pastoral Care
Trinity Temple walks with families through the loss of loved ones. The Bereavement Ministry maintains a list of recent passings and shares details of memorial services, livestream links, and addresses for condolences so the wider congregation can attend and support grieving families.
Twenty-Eight Beliefs
Trinity Temple holds the 28 fundamental beliefs of the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church, organized around six doctrines: God, humanity, salvation, the church, the Christian life, and last-day events. The church teaches that the Bible, Old and New Testaments, is "the written Word of God, given by divine inspiration," and that it is the only standard of faith and practice.
The Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is one God in three co-eternal Persons. Creation happened in six literal days, with the seventh-day Sabbath established as a perpetual memorial. Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, whose death and resurrection atone for sin; baptism is by immersion, and the Lord's Supper is observed with foot washing.
The church teaches the "great controversy" between Christ and Satan, the ministry of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary that began in 1844, the second coming of Christ as a literal, personal, visible, worldwide event, the unconscious state of the dead until the resurrection, the millennium, and the creation of a new earth in which "righteousness dwells." It also recognizes the prophetic gift manifested in the ministry of Ellen G. White as a continuing source of guidance, while keeping the Bible as the standard by which all teaching is tested.
Distinctively Adventist teachings include the seventh-day Sabbath, observance of Old Testament dietary principles, abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, and harmful drugs, the return of Christ before the millennium, and the perpetuity of the Ten Commandments, including the Sabbath commandment, in the life of the believer.
Evangelism and the Messages of Hope Series
Trinity Temple regularly runs evangelism series, with sermons and Bible studies streamed live on YouTube and Facebook. A recent series, "Messages of Hope," walks through Revelation from the perspective of the three angels' messages and the great controversy, with topics such as the Sabbath, the sanctuary, the mark of the beast, baptism, and the second coming of Christ. Each session is broadcast twice, on YouTube and Facebook, so viewers can join from whichever platform they prefer.
Media, Giving, and the Nehemiah Project
The Media Ministry records the worship services and posts them as Sermon Archives for later viewing. Giving is handled through AdventistGiving, the secure donation platform of the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists; members can give online or through the Adventist Giving mobile app for iOS and Android.
A special fundraising effort called the Nehemiah Project supports upgrades to the church's audio-visual and media equipment. Members can mark a tithe envelope for the project or add "Nehemiah Project" to their online giving designation.
A Year of Celebration
The congregation marked its 100-year anniversary with a yearlong celebration that included a Friday Night Vesper and Singspiration, a Homecoming Sabbath with more than 160 photos of festivities, a throwback basketball game, and a Homecoming Gala. Photo galleries from the weekend remain available as a record of a congregation that has been meeting, worshiping, and serving in Newark for more than a hundred years.
Office hours at the church are by appointment on Wednesdays from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Visitors are always welcome to walk in for Sabbath School or worship on Saturday, or to join the prayer line on Wednesday evening.