With roots established 10 years before the birth of America, historic Bridge AWME Street Church located at 277 Stuyvesant Avenue in Brooklyn, celebrated 260 years of dedicated service to the Downtown and Central Brooklyn communities, last Sunday, February 22, 2026.
The theme, this year, revolved around “Celebrating a Great Past, Building A Greater Future” with pastoral leaders Rev. David B. Cousin, Sr.; Rev. Valerie E. Cousin, executive minister; the church’s long roster of Bridge Street officers, including the ministerial staff, the Board of Trustees, evangelists, deacons, senior and junior Steward Boards and stewardesses paying homage to the Bridge Street ancestors, the established living legends of today, and young people who are carrying the church’s legacy forward.
Highlights of the event included inspirational performances by the choirs, musical selections by The Next Generations Youth Choir and the One Voice, One Praise Choir; the memorial tribute to 10 saints who passed during the year; the awards recognition of the church’s outstanding youth for their “Aspire and Founder’s Day” submissions; the rousing speech by guest speaker Dr. DeForest B. Soaries, CEO of DFREE Financial Freedom Movement; a special presentation by Greg Anderson, President & CEO, Bridge Street Development Corporation; and the moving annual Living Legends Pinning ceremony spotlighting those monarchs who reached age 80 and still serve.
During this special “Pin” moment, Evangelist Carolyn Faye Simmons, Bro. Percy E. Weathers, Sr and Dr. Robert Jay Williams, Jr., Ph.D, MPH were pinned by, respectively, those who were honored last year, Deloris Canty, Paul Wallace and Alonzo Graves.
Bridge Street, one of the nation’s few faith institutions with two distinct histories, AME and AWME, was graced also by the presence of dedicated leaders and pioneers in their own right, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (Dem-NY), NYS Attorney General Letitia James, Brooklyn Deputy Borough President Kim Council and Assemblymember Stefani Zinerman (D56th-Dem). All were introduced by community matriarch, Hon. Annette M. Robinson, a Brooklyn living legend and long-time member of Bridge Street.
For more information, visit: www.bridgestreetbrooklyn.org