North Oakland Missionary Baptist Church, which is the second-oldest Black church in the city, requires immediate financial assistance to prevent a forced sale in court on Friday, March 17. 

The church, which has been operational for almost 32 years, is led by Reverend Sylvester Rutledge, its fifth pastor. 

Rutledge considers it a privilege to serve as the leader of the congregation, share his religious beliefs, and be a valuable resource for the community. 

The congregation is now seeking support from the broader community to assist in saving their cherished place of worship during this critical time.

Forced Courthouse Sale

According to a report by the Post News Group, the church is presently in arrears of $43,000 in unpaid taxes on a parking lot it had purchased nearby.

Despite their efforts, the church has not been able to make the necessary payments. 

The two-week deadline has caused significant anxiety for both the church's members and leadership.

According to Rutledge, the property where the church's parking lot now exists previously had houses, which were removed to create the parking lot. 

The church believed that all necessary taxes were being paid, as they were paying annual city taxes and had been exempted from certain taxes. 

However, the county recently notified the church that they had fallen behind on taxes by five years. 

The church's administrators worked with the County to reduce the amount owed, but the pandemic created communication and process barriers, leading to delays. 

Rutledge stated that the closure of offices and the lack of continuity during the pandemic made it challenging to resolve the issue. 

As a result, the church is now attempting to raise the required funds to prevent its closure. 

Without their church, numerous members of the congregation would have nowhere to worship.

Church's History

Dr. Wayne E. Gaddis, who is the President of the California Missionary Baptist Church State Conference, considers the church’s financial crisis to be both a personal and urgent matter. 

As Gaddis revealed, the anniversary celebration of the California Missionary Baptist Church Conference was held at North Oakland Missionary Baptist Church last August since the conference was established there. 

Gaddis stated that he only learned of the crisis last week and emphasized that the Black community could not afford to lose another church. 

With this, Gaddis and his executive board have arranged donation accounts through Givlify and CashApp. 

The collected funds will be used to issue a check to the Office of the Alameda County Assessor's Office next week to assist in saving the church. 

Gaddis stated that if the donations exceed the initial need, his organization would use the excess funds to help other organizations facing similar challenges. 

After Pastor Rutledge shared the church's crisis, Paul Cobb, from the Oakland Post Publisher, visited him and also offered a donation of $1,000, which would be paid directly to the county. 

Cobb contacted various pastors, including Rev. Gerald Agee, Rev. Lawrence Van Hook, Rev. Ray Williams, Rev. Raymond Lankford, and other ministers, who pledged their support immediately. 

Cobb stated that he anticipates raising the remaining $25,000 by March 10. 

He also stated that several ministers and the Post had just finished a planning session to create a faith-based trust fund worth $100 million to save church properties, provide affordable housing for their seniors and other members, and create "green sanctuaries" that are energy-efficient.

Cobb also shared that he and five ministers would request the help of several Asian community leaders to urge the mayor and governor to provide a continual grant of one million dollars.

According to Cobb, they envision this grant to go towards racial healing for the 12 Oakland churches that provide food up to three times weekly to all visitors.

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