A.M.E. Church of Smithtown

(Currently known as Trinity A.M. E.)

The location now known as New York Avenue and Wildwood Lane was a meeting place for former Smithtown, New York slaves and their children.  Their earliest beginning has been noted between 1825 and the early 1900.  Noel Gish in his book “Smithtown New York 1660-1929: Looking Back through the Lens”, concluded that “former slaves met to discuss common problems in Smithtown”.

            In 1910, a congregation of freed slaves met and built a brown shingled barn–like building heated by a single coal stove for their place of worship.

            On August 1, 1931, Isadora Sanford (Young) Smith “sold” the property to the A.M. E. Church of Smithtown for $1.00. 

On January 28, 1932, the church name was changed to Bethel AME Church under the pastorate of the late Rev. James A. Manning and needed to be rebuilt to accommodate the congregation that outgrew the original church. 

On June 5, 1932 the new cornerstone was laid for the present edifice which seats 100 people.   After 1937, the membership of the church faded.

            In 1966, Bishop Decatur Ward Nichols and the New York Conference Board of Trustees arrived at an abandoned Bethel AME Church for its selling and found Smithtown teenagers cleaning, painting and restoring the building. They had explained that a minister had enlisted their help. The minister was the late Reverend Benjamin J. McDaniel. 

            In 1967, the church was reopened and name changed to “Trinity”. 

Today, Trinity A.M.E. Church is under the leadership of the first woman pastor The Reverend Brenda D. Ford a graduate of Union Theological Seminary, New York. Brought back from the brink of extinction June 2008, the Sunday congregation is essentially a new and continually growing one. Practically all of Trinity’s worshippers come from outside of the Smithtown village.

Our mission is based on a very clear view of the nature of the Church, the state of Society and the position of the Church within it. Understanding these things we know what we need to do and why.  For more information on our Mission Action Plan and or supporting our mission efforts, contact Rev. Ford at 631-265-6011 or email: revbrendaford@trinityame.com. 

Additional Reading:

Blacks Roots in Smithtown, by  Town Historian Brad Harris