Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church Celebrates Pastoral Anniversary

Reverend Dr. John H. Grant of Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church

The Reverend Dr. John H. Grant of Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church was honored during a weekend of festivities October 2-4 for his 20 years as pastor. A native of Cross Hill, SC, Dr. Grant was the last of ten children born to Mr. and Mrs. Henry A. Grant. He and his wife, the former Belinda Kennedy, are the parents of Konitia and John Jr., and proud grandparents of Kobey.

Dr. Grant was called to the ministry at age 19. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Benedict University in Columbia, SC, a masters of divinity from Colgate Rochester Crozner Divinity School in Rochester, NY, and a D. Min. from the Atlanta Theological/ Erskine Theological Seminary in Atlanta, GA. He has led congregations at Shoal Creek Baptist Church and Covenant Baptist Church, both in Shelby, and currently serves as senior pastor of the historic Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Asheville, a position he has held since 1989.

In addition to his ministry, Dr. Grant served from 1997 to 2003 as
president and CEO of Mt. Zion Community Development, Inc., whose
community outreach programs include Nurturing Asheville and Area
Families (Project-NAF); Teen Pregnancy and Prevention Initiative
(TPPI); the Elizabeth Grant-Hill Campus of Learners for Health,
Technology, and Entrepreneurship; and a real estate development
program. Project NAF has been lauded both locally and nationally as a
family community-based intervention model, and the Campus of Learners
was named the “2001 Faith-Based Initiative of the Year” by the NC
Association of Community Development Corporations.

Dr. Grant has served as vice president at-large and chairman of
the General Baptist State Convention of NC and has been honored as one
of the “100 Most Influential People” of Buncombe County. He received
the 1993 Minority Enterprise Week Minister of the Year Award and the
Asheville-Buncombe Christian Ministry’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“2001-Church of the Year Award,” for reflecting spiritual values of
social and economic justice. He was named 2004 Minister of the Year by
the NC NAACP.