First Baptist Church in Bridgehampton Observes Centennial With Joyous Celebration

Corwith Avenue in Bridgehampton was as quiet as one would expect to find it at 8:30 on a Sunday morning — except for the crowd of people milling about the small museum dedicated to the art of Dan Flavin.

The museum, which began life as a firehouse, was also the first home of the First Baptist Church of Bridgehampton, which this spring has been celebrating the centennial of its founding by the Reverend H.D. Strotter in 1924.

On Sunday, congregants visited a small gallery on the second floor of the building, now run by the Dia Art Foundation, where the congregation’s original pulpit, sign, cornerstone, and a few photographs are on display.

Shortly after 9 a.m., the crowd, having grown to about 100 people, set off for Main Street, where, with the assistance of a police escort and patient eastbound drivers, it embarked on a spirited march, singing hymns along the way, and waving to the many motorists who honked their horns in tribute.

When the group reached the congregation’s current home at the corner of the Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike and Sawasett Avenue, it was greeted by the sounds of the Bridgehampton School’s marimba ensemble.

The Reverend Tisha Williams, the congregation’s pastor since 2018, said Sunday’s procession was meant to recall one that was held nearly 54 years ago, on November 16, 1980, when the congregation left Corwith Avenue and moved into the brick building that has been its home ever since.

Before the first of two services was held — one by Williams and a second, afternoon service by Bishop Andy Lewter of Hollywood Full Gospel Cathedral in Amityville — members of the congregation met for a light breakfast.

Vivian Graham, 88, a one-time Bridgehampton resident who now lives in Riverhead, sat with her longtime friend, Betty Gilliam, 85, who still lives on the turnpike, not far from the church, and reminisced about growing up in Bridgehampton in the 1940s.

“You had to go to church — and Sunday School,” Graham said. “Your parents didn’t have to tell you.”

Instead of hanging out with friends on a Saturday night, Graham said she pressed her Sunday clothes and practiced her Sunday school lessons. Not that there was much to do in Bridgehampton back then.

Both remembered being baptized at Havens Beach in Sag Harbor. Today, the church has its own baptismal pool. “We’re fancy now,” Graham quipped.

That wasn’t always the case. The church had its origins dating to 1922, but was not formally organized until 1924, with worship services held in members’ homes until August 17, 1925, when the congregation moved into the old firehouse on Corwith Avenue.

A year later, Mary and Demus Martin purchased the building for the congregation, paying $1 down and taking on the obligation of a $3,000 mortgage.

The church, which served African American families from Southampton, Sag Harbor and East Hampton, fell on hard times during the Depression and was closed for a year, before reopening in 1932 and slowly establishing itself in the community. Members began talking about building a new church as early as the late 1940s.

Finally, in 1968, the congregation was able to buy a parcel of land at the corner of the Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike and Sawasett Avenue for $3,000. It would be another 11 years before construction on the new church would begin — but when the congregation moved in, late in 1980, it did so debt-free.

“It means so much,” said Kent Brown, a Flanders resident, who has been a deacon for 25 years. “It’s hard to explain what it means to be part of this church.”

Theresa Roden, who runs the i-tri esteem-building program for young girls, said after Williams joined her organization’s board, she wanted to see her “do her thing,” so she attended a service.

“I felt so incredibly welcome in way I’ve never felt before,” she said, “so I kept coming back.”

When her husband became ill and died, she said the congregation prayed for her. “I felt like I was wrapped in a warm blanket,” she said.

When she asked Williams to speak at her husband’s funeral, she said, was stunned when she came accompanied by the church choir, which sang a number of hymns.

During the Sunday morning service, a number of dignitaries were welcomed, including Suffolk County Legislator Ann Welker; Southampton Town Councilman Tommy John Schiavoni; Southampton Town Police Chief James Kiernan; former Councilman John Bouvier, who now serves as the East End representative of Governor Kathy Hochul; Lynn Arthur, the town’s sustainability coordinator; and Lisa Goree, the town’s assessor and the chairwoman of the Shinnecock Nation Tribal Trustees, who also happens to be a member of the congregation.

Williams used as her sermon the story of how Christ fed the multitudes with only five small loaves of bread and two fish. It was, she concluded, the first example of crowd-sourcing.

She urged the congregation to invest their faith in God.

“The day to celebrate this extraordinary church was truly remarkable,” Williams said on Monday. “As we reflect upon this momentous occasion, I pray that our celebration has made a lasting impact.

“May the church in the next 100 years witness our achievements and commemorate them with the same enthusiasm and passion we displayed yesterday. Although we have reached the milestone of 100 years, it is clear that our journey is just beginning.”