Rev. Floyd H. Flake (b. 1945) is a former congressman and the longtime pastor of the Greater Allen African Methodist Episcopal Cathedral. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1987 to 1997; served as president of Wilberforce University from 2002 to 2008; and is the senior pastor of the Greater Allen A. M. E. Cathedral of New York in Jamaica. Rev. Flake is also the author of the books "The Way of the Bootstrapper: Nine Action Steps for Achieving Your Dreams" and "The African American Church Management Handbook." In Congress, he funded the nation’s first One Stop Small Business Capital Center; it has been the model for additional centers that are now operating in the Federal Empowerment Zones and provides technical assistance and loans to small businesses.

Mother Maude Ford (1881-1970) was born in Barbados. She was a dedicated member of the Salvation Army, working first in Harlem in the 1920s with young women. After becoming First Chaplain she was called to minister in Jamaica, Queens, where she went door to door, serving the needs of the people. Soon, she established a church that held its first open-air service in July 1925. After a fire and then winds tore down the tents, the church moved to the basement of Ford's home at 157-01 110th Avenue, where she lived with her husband John.

Mother Ford's dynamic ministry welcomed people of all races to her church, which grew quickly, so that by March 1926, her garage was dedicated as the Gospel Truth Tabernacle. In April 1931, the church was incorporated and its name was changed to Christ Pentecostal Temple, Inc. By 1953, she had negotiated the purchase of land and completed the construction and dedication of the current church edifice, located at 109-45 157th Street. Mother Ford was a forceful and beloved presence in the community of Jamaica until her death in 1970.

Doris L. Jones and Reverend Walter A. Jones Senior were the founders of the Majority Baptist Church in Hollis.

When Reverend Walter A. Jones, Sr. (1924-2017) moved his family to Hollis, there were no churches in the neighborhood. He filled this void by organizing Bible study in his home. It was there, on October 6, 1960, that the Majority Baptist Church was born with six women and thirteen children. The new church was named after the one in Spartanburg, South Carolina where Walter Jones had accepted the Lord as a young boy. Rev. Jones completed his ministerial studies at the New York Theological Seminary and the Bethel Bible Institute. He also completed Bible Study Classes at the Bryant Memorial Baptist Church under the late Reverend Dr. Katherine Brazley, and was ordained in 1958. He was the former President of the Baptist Minister’s Conference of Queens and Vicinity, and served in leadership positions in numerous regional, state and national Baptist organizations. After 47 years of pastoral ministry, Reverend Jones retired as Senior Pastor of the Majority Baptist Church in 2008 and became its Pastor Emeritus. Doris Jones was a member of Majority Baptist Church for 55 years. She was a member of the Missionary Circle, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia Ministry, Willing Workers, Nurses Unit, Sunday School Dept. and Women’s Fellowship. She was a “Block Watcher” and also served as Den Mother for Troop #279.

Margie Boyd (1924-2017) was the Co-Pastor and First Lady of the New Greater Bethel Ministries located in Queens, New York. She served as the head of the Bethel Christian School, the food pantries and the Women’s Department where she worked with over 2,300 young women daily. She was also a member of many civic organizations, worked closely with Community Boards and was the founder of the annual Give Back to the Community Day, where she would give the community clothing, food, music and other services.

The Reverend Dr. Eldridge Gittens born and raised in New York City. He attended Haaren High School and Shelton College before serving in the United States Army during World War II. In 1955, at a meeting held in his Jamaica, New York home, Rev. Gittens and eleven others founded the Rush Temple African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. Today, the Church is a pillar in the Queens community it serves. Its active congregation, under the leadership of its wise, patient and congenial pastor, embraces all who come. Among its many community programs are such needed activities as a food pantry for the hungry, a clothing distribution program, scouting, academic tutoring, family counseling, housing development, an addiction recovery program, a youth choir and, of course worship. Rev. Gittens for more than 40 years was committed to improving the lives of people in the community.

James Clement Kelly Sr. (1928-2015) was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on September 29, 1928. He served in the United States Army from 1951 until 1953 as an Infantryman in Korea, where he received the Combat Infantryman Badge. He was honorably discharged as a Sergeant, after serving an additional six years in the United States Army Reserve. He joined the Firm Hope Baptist Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and was licensed to preach in 1954. He was ordained at Fellowship Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan in 1955. Because of his many achievements, Virginia Union conferred upon him, the honorary degree, of Doctor of Divinity, (D.D.) May, 1983. He pastored his first church, Gravel Hill Baptist Church in Richmond from 1963 until 1965. He was later called to Pastor the Fifth Baptist Church in Richmond from 1965 until December, 1976. While pastoring in Richmond, he was one of two African Americans appointed by the Richmond City Council, to serve on the Human Relations Committee, for the City of Richmond.

He eventually relocated to Jamaica, Queens, New York, where he pastored the Calvary Baptist Church from 1977 until 1988. On September 11, 1988, he became the Founder and Pastor of the New Jerusalem Baptist Church in Jamaica, New York. He received numerous awards, accommodations and accolades during his more than 50 years in the Gospel Ministry, including the coveted Golden Heritage Award from the N.A.A.C.P. He is listed in "Who's Who among Black Americans." His High School, Bethlehem High (Class of 1947), honored him with a plaque "Alumni of Distinction". He also served in numerous Civic and religious capacities, including Vice President, Richmond Virginia Branch, N.A.A.C.P., President, State of Virginia Progressive National Baptist Convention, President, New York State Progressive National Baptist Convention, Chairman, Home Mission Board, Progressive National Baptist Convention and President of the Eastern Region, Progressive National Baptist Convention. He was past Treasurer of the American Baptist Churches of Metropolitan New York and President Emeritus of the Southeast Queens Clergy for Community Empowerment, which is now named Clergy United for Community Empowerment.

He was a Prince Hall Mason and a member of Lebanon Lodge #54 in Jamaica, New York. In 1991, he was awarded the 33 Degree honor. Beginning in January, 1996 he was voted by Lebanon Lodge, where he served as Chaplain, to become a Lifetime Member. In January 1988, he traveled to Italy and was named Honorary Past Master, of Robert B. Croxton Lodge #128. He was also a member and Chaplain of the Jamaica (Queens), New York Rotary Club and later a member of the Rotary Club of Orlando, Florida, member of the Queens Federation of Churches, member of the Queens Baptist Ministers Conference, member of the New York City Mission Society, and a Board Member of Jamaica Hospital in Queens, New York.

Laura Lowery received a Bachelor’s degree in sociology from Bard College and later received a Master’s degree in social work from New York University. She began her career in social work at the New York City Hospital Association and also worked at the New York State Department of Mental Health. Several years later, she began serving as co-pastor with her husband at the Love Oasis Christian Center in Hempstead, NY. They later moved the ministry to Queens Village.

Pastor Lowery spearheaded many community service projects locally and internationally, including breast cancer screenings and the collection and shipment of medical supplies to Haiti and the Bahamas. She worked with the 105th Precinct on National Night Out events, and her ministry worked with local elected officials on food drives, clothing drives and holiday toy drives. Pastor Lowery helped establish hospital and nursing home visits, intervened in incidences of domestic violence, and created a program for teenage girls in crisis. She also worked with youth and oversaw basketball and arts and crafts programs.

In 2020, Pastor Lowery spearheaded the We Care Food Distribution Program, a community-based food program that feeds hundreds of families in Queens, Nassau and Suffolk. She also had a tremendous domestic and international following from her radio ministry.

James William Charles Pennington (1807-1870) was an African American orator, minister, writer and abolitionist who served a congregation at what is now 90th Street and Corona Avenue in Queens, in the mid-19th century.

Born into slavery in Maryland, Pennington became an expert blacksmith and carpenter and taught himself to read, write and do math. In 1827, at age 19 he escaped via the Underground Railroad to Pennsylvania. In 1830, he traveled to Long Island, where he worked as a coachman and studied, teaching himself Greek and Latin, and devoted himself to Black education and antislavery. Pennington attended the first Negro National Convention in Philadelphia in 1829, and was a leading member, becoming the presiding officer in 1853. He was hired to teach school in Newtown (Elmhurst), and wishing further education, he became the first Black student to take classes at the Yale Divinity School, although he was not allowed to be listed as a student and was required to sit in the back row at lectures. Pennington was ordained as a minister in the Congregational Church and after completing his studies, he returned to Newtown to serve as a church pastor. In 1838, he officiated at the wedding of Frederick Douglass and Anna Murray.

Pennington continued to work as an educator, abolitionist and minister in the New York and Connecticut area. While working in Hartford he wrote "A Text Book Of The Origin And History Of The Colored People" (1841). In 1843 he attended the World's Antislavery Convention in London and toured Europe, giving antislavery speeches. His memoir, "The Fugitive Blacksmith," was first published in 1849 in London.