History

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In 1940, Sister Helen Mickens was a member of the Triumph Church of the New Age in Manhattan.  While there, the Almighty began to reveal His truths to her, starting with the  observance of the seventh-day Sabbath (Saturday). She was so certain of this  revelation that she approached the bishop of her church. When he informed her  that the church would continue to observe the first day of the week as the  Sabbath, Sister Mickens resigned her membership.  Sister Helen and her family began fellowshipping with  various assemblies, in search of one that held to the truths that the Almighty  was continually revealing to her. Over time, she came to know the Creator’s true Name (Yahweh), as well as His appointed Feast Days and His statutes on  eating clean foods. Since she could not find a single church that ascribed to  these scriptural truths, she began holding services in the living room of her Bronx  home.

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Her husband, Alfred, owned a store downstairs, and in February 1953, it  became Beth-El the House of God. Pastor Helen Mickens vowed that she would hold a praise  service every year to the Creator if He would keep the doors of Beth-El open –  and He did just that. Beth-El moved to several other sites in the Bronx,  but the work continued. There were now about 20 members in the congregation,  and in the 1960s, they began exclusively using the Sacred Names of Yahweh (God)  and Yahshua (Jesus).

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In the 1970s, Mother Mickens and a portion of the  congregation moved to Maryland,  and formed Beth-El, the House of Yahweh Baltimore. There she was Overseer until  1991, when she passed away. Today, Beth-El Baltimore continues under the  leadership of Pastor Floyd Simmons. Helen’s son Herbert stayed in New York to pastor the Bronx congregation.  Due to building damage, the congregation began fellowshipping with various Yahwist assemblies.

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In 1981, Beth-El joined forces with Mount Zion House of  Prayer in New Rochelle. Thency  Dennis pastored Mount Zion Beth-El, with Elder Herbert Mickens as Overseer.  This union lasted for over 10 years, but in 1994, Beth-El  (and some former Mt. Zion  members) moved on again in search of a home of its own. Then, Elder Mickens had  a vision of a building in the Bronx. He left his New Rochelle home one morning and to look for it, and  there it was – an old warehouse located at 3482 Park Avenue. Through Yahweh’s grace and Elder Mickens’  labor, that old warehouse became the sanctuary we have today.  Elder Herbert Mickens was ordained Bishop in 1996.

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Four  years later, Bishop Mickens passed on, and the mantle was left to our current Pastor, Min. Beryl Hawthorne, who faithfully carries on the work of Yahweh.