Published on February 23, 2026 at 10:27 pm
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BLACKSONVILLE 100 | Known as Bethel Baptist Institutional Church for decades, The Bethel Church in LaVilla has been a predominantly Black congregation whose members and leadership have moved Jacksonville forward in education, business, civil rights and politics for more than 180 years.
Jerome Milton Waldron
Pastor | Jerome Milton Waldron was pastor of Bethel Baptist Institutional Church between 1892 and 1907. According to Barbara Hunter Welch’s 1988 dissertation “Sallye B. Mathis and Mary L. Singleton: Black pioneers on the Jacksonville, Florida, City Council,” Waldron encouraged seven Black business owners to contribute $100 to create the Afro-American Life Insurance Co. in 1901. Waldron eventually left Jacksonville to pastor Shiloh Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. He was active in the Niagara Movement, a civil rights organization that was a predecessor to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
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(Photo courtesy University of North Florida, Eartha M. M. White Collection)
Matthew W. Gilbert
Pastor | Matthew W. Gilbert, the pastor of Bethel Baptist Institutional Church between 1890 and 1982, moved the Florida Baptist Institute, which is now known as Florida Memorial University, from Live Oak to Jacksonville in 1892. The university was originally housed in the basement of the Bethel Baptist Institutional Church.
(Photo courtesy Duval County Public Schools)
John E. Ford
Pastor | John E. Ford became pastor of Bethel Baptist Institutional Church in 1907 and served for 36 years. Born in Kentucky in October 1862, he spent his childhood in Chicago and eventually earned a degree from Beloit College in Wisconsin in 1891. He is believed to be the first Black graduate of the University of Chicago Divinity School, in 1894. He died in August 1943 at age 79.
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(Photo courtesy Duval County Public Schools)
Cataline B. Simmons (1806-1883)
Pastor, City Council | Cataline B. Simmons was born enslaved in South Carolina. His enslaver brought him to Florida. Simmons, alongside William Garvin, were the first Black people elected to the Jacksonville City Council in 1869. In 1868, Simmons became the pastor of what was then called Bethel Baptist Church. He led Bethel between 1868 and 1880. Simmons was the first pastor of the congregation after white members sought court protection to dispossess Black congregants of the name “Bethel Baptist Church.” Because the Black congregation tripled the number of white congregants, the name of the church and its property were awarded to the Black congregation.
The McKissicks: Rudolph McKissick Sr. & Estelle McKissick
Pastor | Rudolph McKissick Sr. served as lead pastor at Bethel Baptist Institutional Church for 47 years between 1966 and 2013. He remains a pastor emeritus at what is now known as The Bethel Church. He received the 1992 Humanitarian Award by the National Conference for Christians and Jews, among other honors. The LaVilla native is a Stanton High School and Edward Waters University graduate. He is a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity.
(Photo courtesy The Bethel Church)
Educator | Jacksonville native Estelle McKissick devoted 50 years as a local educator. She graduated from Stanton High School and Hampton University. McKissick was also the director of a preschool that focused on children from under-resourced neighborhoods. In 1993 she started BEST Academy as a Saturday supplement to the lessons students learned in the classroom. BEST Academy has provided tutoring in math, science and reading, as well as college test preparation, for thousands of Duval County students. McKissick also played an instrumental role in the success of the DUCOTE Credit Union in the 1960s. She was a life member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and served as president of the Gamma Rho Omega Chapter in the 1950s. McKissick died in May 2025 at age 96.
(Photo courtesy The Bethel Church)
This entry is part of Jacksonville Today’s BLACKSONVILLE 100, a list of influential people with ties to Jacksonville, compiled on the centennial of Negro History Week. See the whole list.
