Metropolitan Baptist Church — Church Directory

Quick Facts

Pastor — the shepherd God holds accountable Rev. Dr. David Jefferson, Sr.

Founded 1914

Denomination Progressive National Baptist

Service Times Sunday mornings (see website)

Men's Ministry No

Kids Ministry Yes

Website www.metropolitanbaptistchurchnewark.org

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.

[1] Live source mbcnewarknj.org
[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.