New pastor at St. Stephen in Asbury Park tries 'things we have never done before'

ASBURY PARK - Stephanie Thompson, 75, has attended St. Stephen AME Zion Church since she was 2 years old. She enjoyed the work of the previous pastor, who retired last year after 31 years on the job. So when she heard the church was getting a new pastor who was as young as her own children, she was skeptical.

"As a senior citizen, I have been in there all my life. I never thought about serving under a young pastor. I am 75; he is like 30-something. When I first saw that this young pastor was going to come on board, first thing I said was 'I know this is not for me,' because I am very traditional," Thompson said.

Thompson no longer feels that way about Rev. Quavon Newton. "Much to my pleasure and my surprise he has me feeling young," she said.

"He really comes in with a different spirit. This is a place for everybody, the young, the old, the old-old. He goes way beyond the call of the norm as far as greeting you, making you feel good," she said. "I just feel I can call him 24/7."

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Newton held his first service at St. Stephen in June 2022, replacing the Rev. Derinzer Johnson, who established quite a legacy before moving back to his native North Carolina to start a ministry.

Johnson was one of the organizers of the Asbury Park/Neptune Coastal Habitat of Humanity Organization, which helps build homes for people in need, and co-founded the Asbury Park Community Action Network, commonly referred to as CAN, which addressed the violence in Asbury Park.

Newton hopes he can break Johnson's lengthy record of service and has been active in the community over his first full year in town.

"(On Aug. 26) at Community Day we fed over 1,500 people," Newton said. "On that day we gave out about 1,200 backpacks full of school supplies, as well as games, activities and we had health information, the Police Athletic League doing boxing drills with young people. About 1,600 people right in our parking lot."

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Thompson said Newton and his wife, Ashley, are "such good leaders, community leaders."

"They're young, they have a vision. They know church is not just about the Bible. Church is the community, the socialization, looking at the real problems of today and connecting them to the Bible so people can really believe. … For me, I find him to be a nice breath of fresh air," Thompson said. "His whole mentality is working for the betterment of the community, not just a kingdom we don't see."

Thompson added "that he does bring a big element of hope" because "we have done a lot of things we never done before, like that massive community day."

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On Sept. 30 the church will hold a blood drive from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to address sickle cell anemia awareness. Sickle cell anemia is an inherited blood disorder, where red blood cells become sickle/crescent shaped. It causes frequent infections, swelling in the hands and legs, pain, severe tiredness and delayed growth or puberty.

The disease occurs among about 1 out of every 365 Black or African American births and occurs among about 1 out of every 16,300 Hispanic American births. About 1 in 13 Black or African American babies is born with sickle cell trait according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The church is also planning a bone marrow drive sometime in the near future.

"We understand when we are giving stuff away, you tend to attract a larger crowd. In this case, it is a blood drive. We are trying to raise awareness around it, we may not get 1,000 people to come in and donate blood. This is our first time doing (something like this). We are going to have availability for as many people that comes in," Newton said.

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There are big plans for the holidays.

"On Thanksgiving our plan is to provide both to-go and dine-in meals. We are going to do it from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Family and individuals can come up and grab meals to go for Thanksgiving. We have a great menu that we are planning," Newton said.

Last year St. Stephen AME fed about 600 people for Thanksgiving, only offering dine-in meals.

"This year we are planning to kick it up a notch, offering both (meal options) and we are planning to use our church vans — we have two of them — to deliver meals to different senior centers," Newton said.

He added that "at the same time, on the outside we are planning to give out winter clothing items."

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"Every age range, we are hoping to have enough clothing items. Right now we have a lot. We are partnering with Community Closet, which is a new organization within Asbury Park, (and) Everybody Eats who we partnered with last year for Thanksgiving, as well as the Asbury Park Little League," Newton said.

The church is hoping to feed at least a thousand people on Thanksgiving.

"We would like to be able to bless at least 1,000 people, whether they take meals, whether we are delivering the meals or they have food cooking at home but they need winter clothing. We are going to prepare for 1,000 people, which is something we are kind of making as our minimum mark and goal," Newton said.

Charles Daye is the metro reporter for Asbury Park and Neptune, with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion. @CharlesDayeAPP Contact him: CDaye@gannettnj.com

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: St Stephen Asbury Park pastor wins over church members with new events