Orange Grove Missionary Baptist brings sense of community


By Tanikka Thomas
NCCU Staff Writer
the Durham VOICE
thedurhamvoice@gmail.com

Churches contribute to every community’s foundation.  In Northeast Central Durham, members of Orange Grove Missionary Baptist Church take their role seriously by providing a safe and productive environment for the community.

Orange Grove Missionary Baptist Church. (Staff photo by Tanikka Thomas)

OGMBC, located on East End Avenue, is open to different cultures and racial backgrounds. The church strives for justice, seeks peace and builds community. It is centered around a caring community of believers from all different lifestyles and situations.

“Our church has a youth basketball teams for young adults from 13-18.  We also have after school tutoring for the kids in high school,” says Jennie Johnson. “I love this church because it makes me feel like I belong to something and I am important.”

The community center is open for anyone in the Northeast Central Durham community.

Shay Johnson, a single mother who resides just off of Angier Avenue says that she takes her son to the community center every Monday, Wednesday and Friday to get help with his homework.

“The tutors at the church give my son one on one attention and they are very nice, says Johnson. “This church really cares about the community and they are the core of the community.”

The pastor of the church, Dr. Herbert Dickerson, has been there for six years. He was previously the pastor for 26 years at Vance Street Baptist Church in Danville, Virginia.

Dickerson began preaching at Greater Triumph Baptist Church in 1974 and was ordained in 1977 as a minister.  He is a member of the Kingdom Association of Covenant Pastors Lott Carey Pastoral Excellence Program.

He has a Bachelor of Theology degree from the Richmond Virginia Seminary.  His wife and the first lady of the church is Doris Dickerson.

OGMBC’s establishment date is unclear, but historians do know that as far back as 1882, a Subscription School was located in on Old Raleigh Road, now known as Angier Avenue. The purpose of this school was to get the people of the community interested in organizing a Sunday school class, which was needed in the community.

Mission is at the heart of Orange Grove. The missionary ministry, led by Caroline Green, meets every second Saturday of the month and provides care and company to individuals in hospitals, nursing homes and the homebound.