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Freedman’s Town New Zion Temple Church receives Historical Marker

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New Zion Temple Church-Worldwide Fellowship, Inc. was founded as a Church of God in Christ in 1933.
“The Little Church on Ruthven Street” started under the direction of Bishop Hayward W. Falls a wood-framed storefront building at 1601 Ruthven, in the historic Freedmen’s Town District of the Fourth Ward.

Bishop Falls bought the property in 1938 and sold it to church trustees for one dollar.
The storefront building was expanded and renovated in 1941 and the name was changed to New Zion Temple Church of God in Christ. The current building was built and opened in May of 1946.
The church remained a church of God in Christ until 1951, when Falls decided to establish the “New Zion Temple” as a nondenominational church.

With the organization of the Worldwide Fellowship in 1952, New Zion Temple became headquarters and host for its national meetings and conventions. In May of 1983, its name officially changed to include “Worldwide Fellowship, Inc.”
With assistance, other churches have been established in Texas, California, Louisiana, Ohio, Jamaica, the Bahamas, and England.

Left to Right: Dr. Theo Herrington, Catherine Roberts, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and Lou A. Williams stand together after the historical dedication of New Zion Temple Church in Fourth Ward.
Left to Right: Dr. Theo Herrington, Catherine Roberts, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and Lou A. Williams stand together after the historical dedication of New Zion Temple Church in Fourth Ward.

Today, the New Zion Temple- Worldwide Fellowship, Inc serves with a food pantry, clothes closet, annual holiday donations, prison ministry, and Juneteenth.