On May 10, 1892, a few warm-hearted Christian men and women came together and decided to organize a Baptist church in East Orange, New Jersey. Their first meeting place was located on the east side of North Clinton Street between William and Main Streets. For about two weeks they met only as a Sunday School, but on May 31, 1892, under the leadership of the Rev. George E. Reed, a few people met at the Old Calvary Methodist Church for the purpose of organizing a church.

The meeting opened with devotional services and was presided over by Rev. George E. Reed, with Solomon Mebane acting as secretary. After stating the purpose of the meeting, three persons—Millie Mebane, Solomon Mebane, and Albert Jackson—presented letters from regular Baptist churches. The name North Clinton Street Baptist Church was adopted in this meeting. The Old Calvary Methodist Church was rented at a cost of $35 per month as a place of worship.

On June 8, 1892, Rev. George E. Reed, who had served from the beginning, was called as pastor.

The first monies given to the church for building purposes was in the form of an insurance policy donated in 1893 by Mrs. Martha Nelson. The amount of the policy was $275.50. This donation was the foundation of the Mount Olive we have today.

In December 1896, Rev. Reed decided to return to Richmond, Virginia. He recommended as his successor Rev. George W. Krygar, who remained with the church some twenty-five years.

The following persons were appointed on January 24, 1896, to consider a new name for the church: Mrs. Martha Turner; Charlotte Lowry; Sophia Creasev; Martha Williams, and Isabella Price Jones. They presented the name Mount Olive Baptist Church, which was accepted unanimously. The church was then incorporated under that name.

Soon after, a change of location for worship became necessary. For a while services were held in a frame dwelling on Main Street, between Ashland Avenue and Halsted Street. Plans were completed for the building of a wooden structure on the present site in which the church worshiped from April 1898, until the erection of the present structure. The vision to construct a permanent church edifice from the ground-up was difficult to realize; but as we today can attest, the members were faithful, and that faithfulness was rewarded.

Many parishioners made generous donations—even personal sacrifices—to provide the original sanctuary with furnishings and supplies: The pulpit chairs were given through the efforts of Mrs. Sadie Smith and Virginia Barbour Sayles; the “Willing Worker’s Club” gave the first carpet; the collection table was the gift of Mr. & Mrs. C. Henry Hunter: the two accompanying chairs were their own dining-room chairs. Mrs. Jenny Lawson presented the pulpit Bible in memory of her sister, Mrs. Mildred Mebane, and the windows and pipe organ were purchased from Dewitt Talmadge’s church in Brooklyn, New York.

On October 26, 1916, Dr. William F. Graham, Pastor of the Holy Trinity Baptist Church, Philadelphia, delivered the dedicatory sermon for the structure at 11 Ashland Avenue that still houses the Mount Olive Baptist Church. Finally and jubilantly, the mortgage was burned on July 2, 1920. On May 22, 1922, Rev. George W. Krygar was called home, and the Rev. R. J. Terrell was appointed pastor.

On May 22, 1922, Rev. George W. Krygar was called home, and the Rev. R. J. Terrell was appointed pastor. Rev. Terrell served as pastor of Mt. Olive for seventeen years, from 1923-1940. Rev. Terrell’s leadership is kept alive here at Mount Olive in the persons of Sis. Dolores Frazier and Sis. Barbara Brown who joined under his leadership and are active today, 72 years after Rev. Terrell’s service, as Sunday School teachers and missionaries.

Following Rev. Terrell’s tenure, Rev. James H. Anderson served as pastor briefly from 1941-1942.

In 1942 Rev. L. A. Williams was called to leadership of the church and remained in this capacity until his death in 1966. Rev. Williams was best remembered for his undying devotion to the children of Mount Olive through his weekly Children’s Storytime.

In December 1967 Rev. Russell Fox assumed duties as the pastor of Mt. Olive Baptist Church, serving for the next 38 years. Under the leadership of Rev. Fox, Mt. Olive grew spiritually and numerically. The church became known for a wide-range of missionary service and political action in the community. A media ministry was established, broadcasting on radio and television, that reached audiences across the nation, and the music ministry was developed into one of the finest in the area. A Wednesday Midweek Service was added, which drew not only Mt. Olive members, but also worshippers from other churches, and proved to be an attractive alternative worship hour to some of the un-churched in the community.

In December 2005, the Rev. Michael J. Jordan was installed as the seventh pastor of Mt. Olive Baptist Church. Since the inception of Rev. Jordan’s pastorate, Mt. Olive has become known in the community as a “giving” church, supporting charitable causes close to the heart of the congregation, participating regularly in missionary service to nursing homes and hospitals, and most recently establishing the “Leap of Faith” feeding program.