Our History
Our church was organized in January, 1960 by the Rev. Arthur J. Dozier, Jr. The name of the church at that time was Murray Hill Missionary Baptist Church, and it was located at 1033 East Canfield in Detroit, Michigan. In the early months, the church had only one active member, Viola Harris. The church moved from the Canfield address to 8733 Mack Avenue in 1961, where we worshipped for one year.
In 1962, the church moved to 702 Tennessee. The Church continued with its primary purpose of bringing sinners to Christ, and it also became involved with community activities. The Lord added to the church, thus increasing our congregation and making it possible for the formation of new auxiliaries and activities.
The name of the church was changed in 1963. The motion was made by Mother Mittie Lee Dozier to change the name of the church from Murray Hill to Peace and Goodwill. The motion was seconded and carried. So in 1963, we became Peace and Goodwill Missionary Baptist Church.
Pastor Dozier had a dream. He dreamed of moving his congregation from Tennessee into a new church edifice. In 1967, the church purchased three (3) lots of land in the 500 block of Conner Avenue. This was less than two (2) blocks away from the Tennessee address. Then on Sunday, May 5, 1968, the groundbreaking ceremony was held. We were unable to get our church incorporated as Peace and Goodwill, so Conner Avenue was appended to the name. Our church became incorporated as Conner Avenue Peace and Goodwill Missionary Baptist Church.
Almost three years elapsed between groundbreaking and marching into our building. Many problems arose, but, faith and prayer brought us through. The Rev. William Thomas, general contractor, began building our new church and Mr. Dominick Dettore, general contractor, completed our building. A mortgage was secured by the Detroit Bank and Trust.
On February 14, 1971 at 3:30 p.m., we marched from Tennessee to our new church building at 514 Conner Avenue. Pastor Dozier preached the entrance sermon, “Drive and Go Forward”, II King 4:24. We worshipped on Conner from February 14, 1971 until March 13, 1994. During that time, we were able to get our church incorporated as Peace and Goodwill Missionary Baptist Church. So again, we became Peace and Goodwill. We were also able to pay off our mortgage on September 28, 1977. The mortgage burning ceremony was held on October 24, 1977.
On March 13, 1994, we made a very significant move to 20500 Moross Road, our present location. Some improvements have been made since we moved to the Moross Road address including central air-conditioning of the sanctuary and the addition of a baptism pool.
Pastor Dozier passed on January 21, 1998, after serving as pastor of Peace and Goodwill for 38 years.
On August 15, 1999, we installed our second pastor, Rev. Herbert B. Robinson, Jr. He served as our pastor until October 5, 2008. During his administration we were able to pay off the mortgage for the current location, and a second mortgage burning ceremony was held on November 12, 2006.
At the end of 2008, the church began an immediate search for our next pastor. On May 30, 2009, Peace and Goodwill elected Rev. Mark Crawford Holloway as the third pastor.
Peace and Goodwill, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” I Corinthians 2:9, because “The Best Is Yet To Come!”