65 Years on Ferry Street
True Bethel Baptist Church has stood on East Ferry Street in Buffalo, New York, since 1961, when eight members first gathered in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Elijah Tillman. The congregation took its name from the meaning of the word Bethel - "House of God" - and added the word True because the founders wanted a place where the gospel was taught without compromise. Six and a half decades later, the church now draws well over three thousand members across three campuses and an outreach network that stretches across Western New York.
From the start, True Bethel has been rooted in Buffalo's East Side. After the original meetings in the Tillman home, the Rev. Floyd Summers was ordained in February 1962 at 457 Genesee Street, and the congregation eventually settled at 491 East Ferry before moving to its present home at 907 East Ferry Street. A second location opened downtown at 472 Swan Street in 2002, and a third campus followed at 1112 South Avenue in Niagara Falls. The church's motto - Worship, Excellence, Love, Accountability, Service, Trust, condensed into the acronym WE LAST - shapes how members approach everything from Sunday worship to neighborhood service.
A Father-and-Son Pastoral Team
Bishop Darius G. Pridgen has served as Senior Pastor since 1993, when Deacon Board Chairman Albert Swain felt moved to accept him on trial after hearing him preach only three times. Under Bishop Pridgen's leadership, True Bethel has grown from a small flock of about twenty-five members to a multi-campus congregation, and he has also become one of Buffalo's most recognizable civic voices. He made history as the first known clergy member elected to public office in the city, serving as District Councilman and later as President of the Buffalo Common Council.
Bishop Pridgen's son, Pastor Craig D. Pridgen, leads the Niagara Falls campus and carries the same family-centered vision into a second generation of ministry. A Buffalo native and graduate of the Buffalo Academy for Visual & Performing Arts and Medaille College, Pastor Craig is also pursuing a degree in Leadership Studies from Regent University. He lives in North Buffalo with his wife, City of Buffalo Chief Judge JaHarr S. Pridgen, and their two daughters, Jordin and Journey. In 2004 he helped launch the first Subway restaurant franchise ever opened inside a church, paired with a job-readiness program that prepared inner-city youth for the workforce. He was sent to open True Bethel's Niagara Falls location in November 2010 and continues to serve there.
What True Bethel Believes
The church's mission is to glorify God by offering salvation to the sinner and strength for the saved. Its vision casts the congregation as a body of believers in the Triune God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - committed to changing lives by winning souls to Christ through contemporary, traditional, and non-traditional methods. In December 2002, the church became officially affiliated with the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship under the leadership of Founder Bishop Paul S. Morton, Sr.
Six core values, gathered under the banner WE LAST, give members a daily framework: Worship (reverence for God in everything), Excellence (professional preparation and creativity, drawn from Ecclesiastes 9:10), Love (compassion and welcome, from 1 Corinthians 13), Accountability (ownership and follow-through, from 2 Timothy 4:5), Service (fellowship and teamwork, from Matthew 23:11), and Trust (respect, integrity, and honest communication, from Luke 19:17). Pastor Craig Pridgen often anchors his own ministry in a single line from Matthew 25:40 - "when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!"
Outreach That Travels Beyond the Pulpit
True Bethel runs a wide-reaching network of community programs under the banner of True Bethel Charities. The Taste of Faith Food Pantry addresses food insecurity across the city, while the True Bethel Clothes Closet provides clothing to neighbors in need. Nehemiah Arms offers emergency housing for displaced individuals, giving the church a tangible response to homelessness in the region. Bishop Pridgen's advocacy extends beyond the church walls as well: he has helped lead clean-ups of hazardous waste sites, worked on public-safety initiatives, and championed economic opportunities in underserved neighborhoods. The church also offers wedding ceremonies, baby dedications, baptisms, and bulletin announcements through online forms that members can fill out ahead of a visit.
Worship, Media, and Staying Connected
Members and visitors who cannot make it to one of the three campuses can stay connected through a robust media footprint. Services are livestreamed on BoxCast, and recordings are available on demand through the church's YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. A weekly television broadcast airs on Spectrum Public Access Channel 1301 on Fridays at 8:00 a.m. and Sundays at 3:00 p.m., and a radio broadcast goes out on Power 96.5 WUFO each Sunday at 10:30 a.m.
Giving is offered several ways: in person at any weekly service or at a kiosk in the main lobby, online through the church's giving page, by Cash App to $truebethel, or by texting an amount to 73256 (for example, TBBC$100.00). Members also have access to a private portal where they can sign in to receive continuous updates as the facility is updated and modified. Those who would like to begin a relationship with the church can submit a New Members form, request prayer through the prayer page, or download a Salvation prayer that walks through Romans 10:9.
Joining the True Bethel Family
Anyone exploring faith for the first time will find a clear starting point: a printed prayer of salvation on the site invites readers to confess with their mouth that the Lord Jesus died for their sins and to believe in their heart that God raised Him from the dead, then to submit a prayer request so the church can celebrate with them. For families, the baby dedication application and baptism application make next steps easy, while a wedding ceremony form helps couples begin planning.
Three campuses - East Ferry, Downtown at 472 Swan Street, and Niagara Falls at 1112 South Avenue - mean there is likely a True Bethel gathering close to wherever a visitor finds themselves in Western New York. With a pastor team, a food pantry, an emergency shelter, livestreamed services, and weekly TV and radio broadcasts, True Bethel Baptist Church continues to live out the name it has carried since 1961: a true house of God, open to its city and to the world beyond it.