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Mount Helm Baptist Church
Jackson
MS
39202
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Who we are
Mt. Helm Baptist Church, which exists to the glory of God so that through us changed lives can change the world, seeks to become an intentionally intergenerational, family-friendly church that changes lives through Gospel witness and emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit. A leading congregation in our state’s capital city, Mt. Helm connects the seminary to the sanctuary, and the sanctuary to the streets and suites. Said differently, we desire to be a safe space for hard questions and heart issues, while also being committed to social transformation, all within the scope of biblical Christianity and holistic Spirit-filled discipleship.
We will be unashamedly Christian in an increasingly unbelieving world and unapologetically black in a yet racist one. As our hearts and arms are open to embrace all cultures and peoples, we do it without sacrificing our moral and theological convictions.
Because our history is multi-layered, we choose to be diverse in many ways. We will be known as a downtown church with passionate worship, anointed preaching, radical prayer, where soul salvation, mind renewal, and prophetic justice work together in our Gospel witness. Developing leaders, making an impact in the community, and cultivating transformative spirituality will be our specialty. Lastly, we hope to be a holy place where elders and “the young” learn from each other, where traditions and technology aren’t enemies, and where religion can be thought through, felt, and motivational for service in the community. In a word, Mt. Helm aspires to be the kind of church that models to our city, state and nation what beloved community can and should be, by the grace of God and in the power of the Holy Spirit to the glory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
We will be unashamedly Christian in an increasingly unbelieving world and unapologetically black in a yet racist one. As our hearts and arms are open to embrace all cultures and peoples, we do it without sacrificing our moral and theological convictions.
Because our history is multi-layered, we choose to be diverse in many ways. We will be known as a downtown church with passionate worship, anointed preaching, radical prayer, where soul salvation, mind renewal, and prophetic justice work together in our Gospel witness. Developing leaders, making an impact in the community, and cultivating transformative spirituality will be our specialty. Lastly, we hope to be a holy place where elders and “the young” learn from each other, where traditions and technology aren’t enemies, and where religion can be thought through, felt, and motivational for service in the community. In a word, Mt. Helm aspires to be the kind of church that models to our city, state and nation what beloved community can and should be, by the grace of God and in the power of the Holy Spirit to the glory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Location of worship / Church Address
300 E Church St
Jackson,
MS
39202
United States
Phone: 601-353-3981
Fax: 601-353-7411
Download Mount Helm Baptist Church vCard with Service Times
Church Pastor
Pastor
300 E Church St
Jackson,
MS
39202
United States
Phone: 601-353-3981
Fax: 601-353-7411
Download Pastor Rev. C. Edward Rhodes vCard with Bio
Quote of the Day
Psalms 4:8
I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.
I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.
Denomination
Baptist
Baptist churches in Jackson, Mississippi, United States
Baptist churches in Mississippi, United States
Baptist churches in United States
All churches in Jackson, MS
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Social Media
Mount Helm Baptist Church Jackson on YouTube
Leadership
Leader Name:
Rev. C. Edward Rhodes
Leader Position:
Pastor
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Fax:
601-353-7411
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Leader Bio:
The son of famed civil rights attorney Carroll Rhodes Sr., and being dedicated back to God by his mother Doris Rhodes when he was almost one year old, Rev. C. Edward Rhodes II exhibited exceptional, visionary leadership from an early age. While in high school he was elected tenth grade class president; singlehandedly composed a new constitution and bylaws for the student government in the eleventh grade; and during his senior year served as the city school board's first student representative and as the sports writer for the Copiah Courier. Known for his gifted oratory, Rev. Rhodes frequented churches and civic organizations delivering motivational messages and famous Martin Luther King, Jr., sermons.
Rev. Rhodes received his call to Gospel ministry in July 2000, two months after graduating with honors from Hazlehurst High School. Under the spiritual mentorship of Bishop Arnold Stanton, pastor/founder of New Life Cathedral of Worship in Hazlehurst, he initiated a life of devoted witness to the Gospel.
Affectionately called CJ by family and friends, Rev. Rhodes continued to lead during his tenure at the University of Mississippi. There he served in various positions in the student government (e.g.: co-founding the Department of Minority Affairs), worked with the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation, and was appointed to the Chancellor's Committee for Respect and Sensitivity. Ministerially, Rev. Rhodes co-founded two college ministries and was an associate minister to youth and young adults at Clear Creek Missionary Baptist Church and Mt. Hope Baptist Church, respectively. Though originally pursuing a degree in International Studies, Rev. Rhodes graduated in 2004 with a BA in Philosophy.
After serving as religious affairs coordinator with Free the Slaves, a Washington, DC-based human rights nonprofit, Rev. Rhodes continued his education at the Duke University Divinity School as both a Dean's Scholar and a Fund for Theological Education Ministry Fellow. There he served as Vice President of the Black Seminarians Union, was elected by his peers to preach the coveted New Seminarians Orientation sermon, and ministered as a chaplain intern for Duke Divinity School's Goodson Chapel and Wake Medical Hospital in Raleigh, NC. Respected by his peers, Rev. Rhodes earned the nickname “Bishop” for his charisma, character, and mentorship of fellow seminarians.
Upon returning to Mississippi, Rev. Rhodes worked for Mission Mississippi, a statewide Christian movement demonstrating and promoting racial and denominational reconciliation. Licensed into Gospel ministry by Bishop Arnold Stanton (New Life Cathedral of Worship- Hazlehurst, MS) and ordained in 2009 by Rev. Dr. Maurice Wallace (Cornerstone Church- Durham, NC), Rev. Rhodes’ passionate preaching and global Christian vision have been shaped by Christ’s prayer for unity among all his disciples.
In 2010 Rev. Rhodes became the youngest pastor of Mt Helm Baptist Church, Jackson’s oldest historically African-American congregation. Under his transformative leadership, Mt Helm regained its local and statewide status as a flagship church, became more engaged in evangelism and advocacy, and modeled adaptive paradigms that made the nearly two century old church more relevant and visible for 21st century ministry.
In 2013 Rev. Rhodes was one of fifty persons selected to participate in the Inaugural Institute of Black Theology and Leadership at Princeton Theological Seminary. That same year he was employed by Alcorn State University to lead religious life of the campus and to teach courses in Philosophy. Rev. Rhodes is presently a candidate for the Doctor of Ministry in Pastoral Leadership for Transformational Ministry at Wesley Biblical Seminary.
Denominationally, Rev. Rhodes is also a popular instructor in the General Missionary Baptist State Convention Congress of Christian Education and serves as the Convention’s Liaison for Ecumenical and Civic Affairs. Rev. Rhodes has also taught in the National Baptist Convention Congress of Christian Education. In June 2014 Rev. Rhodes was appointed President of the Mississippi Baptist Seminary and Bible College. On the national level, Rev. Rhodes was a member of the Campaign to Elect Jerry Young President of the National Baptist Convention USA, Inc., and was asked by Dr. Young to preach for the Mid-Winter Board Meeting the year he was inaugurated the Convention’s 18th President. He presently serves the President and Convention as the Chair of the Ecumenical Relationships Commission.
Rev. Rhodes has traveled to two Latin American countries, ministered nationally, has published columns that have appeared in the Jackson Free Press and the Mississippi Link, and is a much sought after leadership consultant and strategist. Civically, Rev. Rhodes serves on the board of Mission Mississippi, is president of Clergy for Prison Reform, has been a prophetic voice advocating for social transformation in Jackson and throughout Mississippi. He is the host of The CJ Rhodes Show on WRBJ 97.7 FM and is the author of Thy Kingdom Come: Reflections on Pastoral and Prophetic Ministry.
Above all, Rev. Rhodes is a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ and is the loving and blessed husband of his beloved Allison Rhodes, the assistant director of Human Resources at Madison County Schools. Together they are committed to glorifying God and raising their twin sons, Carroll Edward III (“Duke”) and Cornelius Josiah (“Jozy”).
Rev. Rhodes received his call to Gospel ministry in July 2000, two months after graduating with honors from Hazlehurst High School. Under the spiritual mentorship of Bishop Arnold Stanton, pastor/founder of New Life Cathedral of Worship in Hazlehurst, he initiated a life of devoted witness to the Gospel.
Affectionately called CJ by family and friends, Rev. Rhodes continued to lead during his tenure at the University of Mississippi. There he served in various positions in the student government (e.g.: co-founding the Department of Minority Affairs), worked with the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation, and was appointed to the Chancellor's Committee for Respect and Sensitivity. Ministerially, Rev. Rhodes co-founded two college ministries and was an associate minister to youth and young adults at Clear Creek Missionary Baptist Church and Mt. Hope Baptist Church, respectively. Though originally pursuing a degree in International Studies, Rev. Rhodes graduated in 2004 with a BA in Philosophy.
After serving as religious affairs coordinator with Free the Slaves, a Washington, DC-based human rights nonprofit, Rev. Rhodes continued his education at the Duke University Divinity School as both a Dean's Scholar and a Fund for Theological Education Ministry Fellow. There he served as Vice President of the Black Seminarians Union, was elected by his peers to preach the coveted New Seminarians Orientation sermon, and ministered as a chaplain intern for Duke Divinity School's Goodson Chapel and Wake Medical Hospital in Raleigh, NC. Respected by his peers, Rev. Rhodes earned the nickname “Bishop” for his charisma, character, and mentorship of fellow seminarians.
Upon returning to Mississippi, Rev. Rhodes worked for Mission Mississippi, a statewide Christian movement demonstrating and promoting racial and denominational reconciliation. Licensed into Gospel ministry by Bishop Arnold Stanton (New Life Cathedral of Worship- Hazlehurst, MS) and ordained in 2009 by Rev. Dr. Maurice Wallace (Cornerstone Church- Durham, NC), Rev. Rhodes’ passionate preaching and global Christian vision have been shaped by Christ’s prayer for unity among all his disciples.
In 2010 Rev. Rhodes became the youngest pastor of Mt Helm Baptist Church, Jackson’s oldest historically African-American congregation. Under his transformative leadership, Mt Helm regained its local and statewide status as a flagship church, became more engaged in evangelism and advocacy, and modeled adaptive paradigms that made the nearly two century old church more relevant and visible for 21st century ministry.
In 2013 Rev. Rhodes was one of fifty persons selected to participate in the Inaugural Institute of Black Theology and Leadership at Princeton Theological Seminary. That same year he was employed by Alcorn State University to lead religious life of the campus and to teach courses in Philosophy. Rev. Rhodes is presently a candidate for the Doctor of Ministry in Pastoral Leadership for Transformational Ministry at Wesley Biblical Seminary.
Denominationally, Rev. Rhodes is also a popular instructor in the General Missionary Baptist State Convention Congress of Christian Education and serves as the Convention’s Liaison for Ecumenical and Civic Affairs. Rev. Rhodes has also taught in the National Baptist Convention Congress of Christian Education. In June 2014 Rev. Rhodes was appointed President of the Mississippi Baptist Seminary and Bible College. On the national level, Rev. Rhodes was a member of the Campaign to Elect Jerry Young President of the National Baptist Convention USA, Inc., and was asked by Dr. Young to preach for the Mid-Winter Board Meeting the year he was inaugurated the Convention’s 18th President. He presently serves the President and Convention as the Chair of the Ecumenical Relationships Commission.
Rev. Rhodes has traveled to two Latin American countries, ministered nationally, has published columns that have appeared in the Jackson Free Press and the Mississippi Link, and is a much sought after leadership consultant and strategist. Civically, Rev. Rhodes serves on the board of Mission Mississippi, is president of Clergy for Prison Reform, has been a prophetic voice advocating for social transformation in Jackson and throughout Mississippi. He is the host of The CJ Rhodes Show on WRBJ 97.7 FM and is the author of Thy Kingdom Come: Reflections on Pastoral and Prophetic Ministry.
Above all, Rev. Rhodes is a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ and is the loving and blessed husband of his beloved Allison Rhodes, the assistant director of Human Resources at Madison County Schools. Together they are committed to glorifying God and raising their twin sons, Carroll Edward III (“Duke”) and Cornelius Josiah (“Jozy”).
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Mount Helm Baptist Church Leadership Photos
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Mount Helm Baptist Church Jackson Service Times
Sunday School: 9:30 AM
Sunday Worship: 11 AM
Children's Church: 11 AM
Wednesday Prayer Service: 6:30 PM
Wednesday Bible Study/OLI: 7 PM
Service Times last updated on the 6th of October, 2019
Sunday Worship: 11 AM
Children's Church: 11 AM
Wednesday Prayer Service: 6:30 PM
Wednesday Bible Study/OLI: 7 PM
Service Times last updated on the 6th of October, 2019
Worship Languages
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When you visit Mt Helm you’ll see folks wearing their Sunday’s best, and others dressed more casually. We don’t care what you wear, as long as it’s modest—whether three-piece or jeans; dress and church hat or blouse and khakis.
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Mount Helm Baptist Church Photo Gallery
Mount Helm Baptist Church History
Hidden History: How Mt. Helm Baptist Church began
JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) — During a time when enslaved Africans outnumbered the free in the South, White and Black people worshiped together at First Baptist Church in Jackson.
After the Emancipation Proclamation, the members separated, and the Black members formed the first Black church in Jackson — Mount Helm.
Rev. C. J. Rhodes is the pastor of the city’s oldest religious body of African American believers. The history dates back to 1835 when their African ancestors, the slaves, could not sit in a pew at First Baptist. Instead, they sat on the floor in handcuffs.
“They saw in it the story of God delivering the Israelites they saw in it God delivered Daniel so why not every man,” Pastor Rhodes said.
Prior Lee, a preacher and slave master, donated the bricks for a new First Baptist Church building. He wanted the slaves to have their own place to worship. For about three decades, the slaves met in the church basement while a white man oversaw the services.
“You look at records where they would evangelize slaves, but they would not baptize slaves because they understood spiritual unity would lead to social unity,” Rhodes said.
Born into slavery and later freed by a bloody Civil War, the members were literally forced into the streets with no church to call their own, according to the records at Cade Chapel, which is another body of believers birthed at Mt. Helm.
Thomas E. Helm and his wife donated money and land to the free slaves. The 80 sq. feet property is now the corner of Lamar and Church streets. In1868, the former First Baptist members built their first church, a wood-frame building that stood for 42 years.
During that time the church pressed through the reconstruction period.
“In1890, Mississippi passes a constitution not ratified by the people, not voted on by the people, basically strips away all of the civil rights that Black people gained after the Civil War called the Civil War Amendments,” Rhodes said. “1890s radical racist and backward constitution you see the rise of the Confederate flag that becomes the banner and symbol to the rise of the Confederacy from the ashes of the war.”
That Confederate symbol still hangs just feet from the church at the State Capitol, and still, the church continues to thrive with a housing development for the first time, home owners, and an adopted middle school.
“If anyone can rest on its laws, if anyone can say look at what we’ve done it’s Mt. Helm,” said Tony Bounds of Liberal Trinity Church of God in Christ.
The members are staying true to their mission: to maintain a spirit filled ministry committed to changing lives and changing the community in Jackson.
JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) — During a time when enslaved Africans outnumbered the free in the South, White and Black people worshiped together at First Baptist Church in Jackson.
After the Emancipation Proclamation, the members separated, and the Black members formed the first Black church in Jackson — Mount Helm.
Rev. C. J. Rhodes is the pastor of the city’s oldest religious body of African American believers. The history dates back to 1835 when their African ancestors, the slaves, could not sit in a pew at First Baptist. Instead, they sat on the floor in handcuffs.
“They saw in it the story of God delivering the Israelites they saw in it God delivered Daniel so why not every man,” Pastor Rhodes said.
Prior Lee, a preacher and slave master, donated the bricks for a new First Baptist Church building. He wanted the slaves to have their own place to worship. For about three decades, the slaves met in the church basement while a white man oversaw the services.
“You look at records where they would evangelize slaves, but they would not baptize slaves because they understood spiritual unity would lead to social unity,” Rhodes said.
Born into slavery and later freed by a bloody Civil War, the members were literally forced into the streets with no church to call their own, according to the records at Cade Chapel, which is another body of believers birthed at Mt. Helm.
Thomas E. Helm and his wife donated money and land to the free slaves. The 80 sq. feet property is now the corner of Lamar and Church streets. In1868, the former First Baptist members built their first church, a wood-frame building that stood for 42 years.
During that time the church pressed through the reconstruction period.
“In1890, Mississippi passes a constitution not ratified by the people, not voted on by the people, basically strips away all of the civil rights that Black people gained after the Civil War called the Civil War Amendments,” Rhodes said. “1890s radical racist and backward constitution you see the rise of the Confederate flag that becomes the banner and symbol to the rise of the Confederacy from the ashes of the war.”
That Confederate symbol still hangs just feet from the church at the State Capitol, and still, the church continues to thrive with a housing development for the first time, home owners, and an adopted middle school.
“If anyone can rest on its laws, if anyone can say look at what we’ve done it’s Mt. Helm,” said Tony Bounds of Liberal Trinity Church of God in Christ.
The members are staying true to their mission: to maintain a spirit filled ministry committed to changing lives and changing the community in Jackson.
Mount Helm Baptist Church Historical Photos
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