About Us
The Mount Vernon Seventh-day Adventist Church is a church that believes in Jesus, a church that loves God and people. Our church stretches beyond the four walls, and the community is our congregation. We serve in Mount Vernon, NY and its surrounding neighborhoods. Through prayer, the word, love, and service, we connect our church and community to Christ. When you come to The Mount, you can expect to be welcomed into a friendly, positive environment by people who are genuinely glad to see you. We meet every Saturday for Bible Lesson Study at 9:30am and for Worship at 11am.
Founded in 1939, Mount Vernon SDA Church is part of a worldwide organization with more than 15 million members in countries around the world.
What we Believe
God
Jesus
Holy Spirit
Our Pastor
Pastor Theodore Basil Sturrup
Senior PastorT. Basil Sturrup is a visionary leader, provocative thinker and innovative pastor. He is also an evangelist, prolific author, sought after preacher and motivational speaker. Well known for his seminars on Leadership, Vision Casting, Church Growth, and Biblical Preaching, Pastor Sturrup travels extensively to conduct workshops and specialized training for Seventh-day Adventist conferences, churches, and the corporate world.
He is a member of the John Maxwell Leadership Team, and Chairman of the T. Basil Sturrup Foundation, a nonprofit organization. Pastor Sturrup has developed two international leadership conferences namely, SOAR (Solutions to Obstacles Adventist Retreat) and ALERT (Advance Leadership, Evangelism and Retention Training). His mantra is “Starting Each Day With Hope,” and finds pleasure sharing his faith in God and and doing whatever he can to add value to others.
Pastor Sturrup is married to Lavern Sturrup, Communications Director of the Northeastern Conference of Seventh-day Adventist, and they are the proud parents of Tarea, and Brandon Sturrup.
Our History
Our journey began in the fall of 1932. Thaddeus Wilson, Sr. a layman and local elder of the New Rochelle Seventh-day Adventist Church, purchased two thousand Present Truth tracks and invited James North, also a layman, to accompany him in a systematic distribution of the tracks in the Mount Vernon area. It was their wish to start a Bible class. They told the people to whom they gave the tracks that they were missionaries for God and they would be back the following Sunday with another tract. Their persistence paid off. A weekly Bible study class begun and in less than a month the interest and attendance had grown.
Thaddeus Wilson, Sr. and James North fasted and prayed that God would open a way for them to move forward with a self-supporting tent effort. Shortly after, a tent was purchased, which seated 120 people and was pitched at the corner of South Eighth Avenue and West Third Street on July 1933. For ten weeks, evangelistic meetings were held and the effort became a success. It created widespread interest among the communities in the Mount Vernon area and the news about it was also published in the local papers. As a result, nine individuals were baptized and the following year eight more persons.
The seventeen new believers from both efforts became members of the New Rochelle Church, and later formed the nucleus of the Mount Vernon Mission. During the Mission’s growth, the New Rochelle Church was very supportive. They gave their means and time to help the mission, and the work in Mount Vernon. In 1939, Elder Wilson, now an ordained minister, was made the pastor of the new congregation. In that year, the mission was organized into a church. This was a milestone in the history of the Mount Vernon Church.
Twenty-one pastors have shepherded this church starting with Elder Thaddeus Wilson, Sr. to our present Pastor Pierre Eddy Laguerre. The Mount Vernon Church has seen and experienced the goodness of the Lord over the years. To Him be the glory and the honor for ever and ever.