STRUTHERS A Struthers church celebrated its 100th anniversary on Saturday and Sunday in Struthers, bringing together faith, family and community.

The Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church, a church that began in a garage as a neighborhood missionary circle in 1925, held a Black and Gold Celebratory Banquet over the weekend with the help of churchgoers and community members.

"We have friends and members who have been a part of this church, who are now all over the country; they've come back to celebrate this occasion. Of course, it's not every day a church reaches 100 years, especially during the pandemic and all of that stuff," said Senior Pastor Mark Parks, who has been with the church for seven years. "A lot of churches have closed, but God has blessed us with grace and mercy to stay open."

On Saturday, Richard D. Johnson, a jazz musician and son of the church's former minister of music, played live music at the event. Johnson has also performed with musicians such as Herbie Hancock and Stevie Wonder.

On Sunday, the Anniversary Praise Team provided music under conductor Leslie Frost-Kitchen, accompanied by former Minister of Music Richard Johnson. 

"So the message is to continue, to continue following Christ. As long as we follow Christ, then we will be here hopefully, unless Jesus comes again, for another hundred years," Parks said.

The weekend included guest speeches and messages from pastors and ministers as the church gathered to celebrate its century of the church.

"We are in turbulent times in our country, in our city, especially in Youngstown and surrounding areas, there's a lot of challenges for people," Parks said. "We at Pilgrim want to be able to help meet some of those needs, trying to bridge that gap between our church and the lost community around us."

The Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church is located at 67 McClure Street.