Trinity African Methodist of Smithtown is turning 100

The Rev. Brenda D. Ford sat in the front pew of the church, sunlight streaking through the windows onto the altar, talking about her congregation.

When she arrived in June 2008, Trinity African Methodist Episcopal Church of Smithtown had three members. She since has grown it - to 12 members.

"The Lord told us that, where two or three people are gathered, he's there, too," Ford said. "There is a need for small congregations. I enjoy the intimacy."

The unassuming white church on New York Avenue and Wildwood Lane turns 100 years old this year. It sits on property once a meeting place for former slaves in the 1800s and early 1900s, before being sold to the congregation for $1 in 1931 by Isadora Sanford Smith, a descendant of the town of Smithtown's founder.

The church is badly in need of repairs. A flood in the basement a few months back might have damaged some wiring. The church ceiling also shows signs of water damage, and the rope to the church's bell tower has snapped. The front door needs work, and Ford hopes to paint the interior soon. A ramp for her elderly population is high on her to-do list.

Small congregations don't raise much money, so there are no extras. Ford recently placed an ad at Stony Brook University, where she also serves as a chaplain, to find a student to play piano during services.

Still, the church has a welcoming feel to it, something the pastor said she noticed as soon as she arrived. She is hopeful she can grow the congregation, including young families.

Saturday, the church is holding a 100th Anniversary Ball at the Smithtown Landing Country Club. Ford wants the community to know all are welcome, regardless of race or color.

"It's an African Methodist Episcopal Church but it's not just for African-American families," she said. "When you kneel to pray, you are not praying with your color."

At one time, blacks - primarily slaves for landowners - were a higher percentage of Smithtown's population. In 1776, the census showed 161 blacks of a population of 716, according to town historian Bradley Harris' book "Black Roots in Smithtown," but the black population had declined significantly by 1900 as former slaves left to find better work. Today, less than 1 percent of the town identifies itself as black in the census.

After meeting at the site for decades, a group of former slaves and their children organized in 1910 and built the African Methodist Episcopal Church of Smithtown.

In 1932, the church was rebuilt to accommodate 100 congregants, but by the end of the decade the numbers had dwindled and at some point it was shuttered. According to the church's website, it was reopened in 1967 by the New York Conference of AME after a group of Smithtown teens cleaned and painted the building, and it took its current name. In 1980, Smithtown decreed the church a historic structure.

As pastors have come and gone, the congregation has ebbed and flowed. James Gardner, 86, a 16-year member, said he keeps coming from Brentwood because the church feels like home to him. He wishes others would give it a chance, too.

"I thought about it so many times," he said. "We had one or two community members come here, and they said they would come back. And the young people, we need them and we don't have them. I'm not sure what we will do to get them."

For information on tomorrow's ball, call 631-265-6011.