
Quick Facts
Founded
1914
Denomination
Progressive National Baptist
Service Times
Sunday mornings (see website)
Men's Ministry
No
Kids Ministry
Yes
Pastor Credentials
DMin

10-Point Theological Scorecard
Christology
Is Jesus the only way? (John 14:6)
Not stated on available sources — verify.
Caution
Scripture
Inerrancy affirmed? Final authority?
Not stated on available sources — verify.
WARNING!
Men's Discipleship
Intentional formation for men?
Not stated on available sources — verify.
WARNING!
Soteriology
Faith alone? How is salvation presented?
Not stated on available sources — verify.
Caution
Gender / Biblical Design
Biblical manhood and womanhood by God's design — patriarchal, complementarian, egalitarian, or affirming gender ideology?
Not stated on available sources — historically Black Baptist congregations in urban NJ vary; verify.

Full egalitarianism.
Disqualifier
Leadership Structure
Male elders/pastors? Accountability?
Single long-tenured senior pastor David Jefferson Sr. — elder-accountability structure not published.
WARNING!
Preaching Style
Expository or topical/therapeutic?
Not stated on available sources — verify.
WARNING!
Mission Clarity
Great Commission central?
Tagline: 'Bringing Families Together Around the Word of God' — family-focused.
Caution
Cultural Alignment
DEI/CRT language? Social justice crowding out gospel?
Not stated on available sources — verify.
Disqualifier
Accountability Structure
Denominational home, elder plurality, or external network — is the pastor answerable to anyone?
Baptist (not AME as ID implies); specific convention (PNBC/NBCUSA/SBC) not stated publicly — yellow pending verification.
Disqualifier

Assessment
Metropolitan Baptist Newark is a Progressive National Baptist Convention megachurch built around Black social-gospel ministry and political organizing in Newark. PNBC affiliation entails full women's ordination and liberation-theology hermeneutics.
#metropolitan-newark#pnbc#liberation#egalitarian#social-gospel#needs-review

Sources & Evidence
Enrichment Notes
FLAG: ID prefix 'prog-st-james-ame' does not match this church (Metropolitan Baptist, not St. James AME). Requires directory correction. [2026-05-16 slug-bug: This record's id starts with "prog-st-james-ame-" but the actual church is Metropolitan Baptist Church Newark NJ (Cory Booker's home church). Slug retained for URL stability; future migration could rename to metropolitan-baptist-newark-nj with redirect.]
These are the URLs consulted to arrive at this church's scoring. Score-note claims are synthesized from homepage content, denominational directories, and public statements of faith at the time of review. Church websites change frequently; we're progressively adding Internet Archive snapshots to prevent link rot.
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[1] Live source
mbcnewarknj.org
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[2] Live source
mbcnewarknj.org/our-pastor
Transparency note: MOOP ratings are researcher judgments about publicly available theological and ecclesial evidence. They are not infallible. If a church's public posture has changed since our review, or if we've mis-read evidence, tell us — we publish corrections.

Last reviewed:
2026-05-16
— Annual review recommended