After 2 crashes, historic Black church in Delaware makes comeback: "We are stronger than ever"

A historic Black church in New Castle County, Delaware, is making a powerful comeback after two hit-and-run crashes left the sanctuary heavily damaged.

Founded in 1848, St. John African Methodist Church on New London Road is the oldest Black church in the city of Newark. Now, after a $300,000 rebuild, congregants are getting ready to worship in the sanctuary again for the first time in nearly two years.

"It took longer than some people thought we should, but it's always in God's time," Pastor Blaine Hackett said. "We are stronger than ever because of the fact that we're still standing."

A driver in a stolen car slammed into the church during a hit-and-run crash in August 2024. Then, in January 2025, there was another hit-and-run crash involving a stolen vehicle that caused even more damage.

"We are still healing from the trauma of the accident," Hackett said.

While the sanctuary has been restored with new pews, flooring, lighting and furniture, reminders of the damage remain. The altar still bears scratches and nicks from bricks that flew through the church during the second crash.

Worship services were moved to the fellowship hall in the back of the church while repairs were underway. New bollards have been installed outside the church to protect the building if another vehicle veers off the road.

Congregants said rebuilding the sanctuary was about more than repairs. It was about restoring hope.

"When things happen in life, God wants to test us to see where we are," congregant Woman of God, formerly known as DesCelia Allen, from Warwick, Maryland, said. "Are we going to still stand in the midst of the storm? This is to exercise our faith to know that nothing can separate us from His love."

Sunday's reopening service will be a homecoming with mixed emotions. One of the guest speakers is Pastor Ron Whitaker from Mother African Union Church in Wilmington, which was destroyed in a fire last Sunday.

"I know their tragedy, but I do know just like God has restored everything that was destroyed here, He would restore them as well," Hackett said.

During the reconstruction last year, church leaders uncovered a time capsule from 1960 behind a cornerstone hidden