History
Bishop Paul L. McKoy Sr. was born on March 15, 1938 to the late Reverend John L. McKoy and Mother Odesser McKoy in the small town of Saint Paul’s, North Carolina.
Paul became extremely ill as a baby and was not expected to live. Through the prayers of his father and mother, God healed him. God also revealed to his mother that “Your baby will live and not die as a child but will live to save a nation of people”.
Accepting Jesus Christ as his personal Savior at the early age of 10 years old and being filled with the Holy Ghost, he began to show signs that God had control of his life. Each day he would be playing in the fields and people could hear him preaching to the mules, cows and hogs or anyone who would stand still long enough to listen. One day as the family looked out into the field, they saw the mules and horses going down the pasture by themselves. Young Paul was busy clapping his hands and yelling at the top of his voice turning around and around praising God.
One day at the age of 16 years old while he was still in high school, God called young Paul McKoy to preach. That Sunday, he preached his trial sermon in front. His teachers and fellow schoolmates were in attendance. His text was taken from Luke 19:5, the subject was “You Are Too High, Come Down”. When Paul finished preaching, there was not a dry eye in the church. All doubts were gone that God had really called this young child.
God then blessed him with a wife, Annie Ruth Burden who was also a Christian girl. From that marriage they were bless with four children: Wanda, Paula, Paul Jr. and Frederick.
Elder Paul McKoy grew up under the instruction of the late Reverend lda Floyd until they came to Boston, Massachusetts in 1960. It was there that they met Bishop K.C. Lewis. While still with Bishop Lewis, Elder and Sister McKoy desired to open a restaurant. One-night Elder McKoy had a vision of Zion Holy Temple Restaurant. He knew that Zion was not a name for a restaurant, so he prayed about it again. God brought the same name” Zion” to him again, and told him to open a church for his people. God also revealed the location of the church and sent him to Erie Street in Dorchester.
As he drove down Erie Street God said, "this is the place". Elder McKoy stopped at this place and went inside to talk to the lady who owned the building. She mentioned that several people had stopped by inquiring about renting the space to be used for a church, but that her husband was not willing to rent the space out. As Elder McKoy was leaving the lady’s son came downstairs and asked her “what did that man want?”. She informed him that he wanted to rent the building for a church. The son looked Elder McKoy over and told his mother to give the space to him because he felt that Elder McKoy was going to do something good in the city. The lady was genuinely concerned about going against her husbands’ wishes. Her son told her that he would take care of everything.
Elder McKoy went back the next day and spoke to the father and he was more than happy to give him the place. Elder McKoy would now be called Pastor McKoy. When Pastor McKoy asked what the monthly rent would be, he was told not to give anything until he was asked to. During all the time they were there the owners only took one month’s rent. The building owners attended service every Sunday. Two weeks before he began pastoring, Pastor McKoy received a certified letter for a job with the MBTA that he had applied for eight years prior.
After moving in he knew the church needed music. The Pastor went to Williams Organs in Brookline and explained that he did not have any money or transportation but needed an Organ. The owner said that if the Pastor could get someone to help move the Organ, they could use her van to get it back to the church. First Lady, Ann McKoy, Sister Mae McKoy, Sister Margaret Noiles and Pastor McKoy all loaded the organ on the van. Their next task they had to endure was how they would get the organ out of the van. By the time they arrived at the church two men walked up to the church and helped them unload the organ. The church was opened on the 2nd Sunday in August 1970 Bishop K.C. Lewis preached. Her message was, “If You Can Take It, You Can Make It.”
As the church began to grow, there was a need for a larger place. One day Bishop A. Foxworth of The Grace Community Church called the Pastor and asked if he wanted to rent a new location for the church which would be at 278 Humboldt Avenue in the basement of an apartment building. The Pastor agreed and went to meet the owner who rented him the building under the same terms and conditions as his previous contract. We moved there in the year of 1975. At times the spirit would be so high that the tenants would complain and then pour water and call the police on the Pastor. The police would come and sit in the back of the church until the Pastor finished preaching. The officers would talk to the Pastor and tell him that he was doing a great job and they could not understand why the tenants would complain. The police suggested to the Pastor that he try looking for another place of worship at which point the Pastor began to pray.
One night God showed him the building at 79 Stanton Street in a vision. Pastor McKoy wasn’t sure where the street was. On his way home after work the next day the spirit sent him to a Catholic Church on Regan Street. He went in, spoke to the Priest, and told him he was trying to find a church. The Priest sent him to St. Matthew’s and told him to speak with Father Rocke. Father Rocke took the Pastor down to a building on Norfolk Street. The spirit did not confirm this as being the place for him. On the way, back the Priest told him that there was a place down the street from his church and the owners were planning to sell it.
The Pastor went down the street and as soon as he pulled up in front of the door, the spirit said, “this is the place". As he got out of his car and began walking up to the door a janitor was coming out. The Pastor asked him if he could go inside and see the place, but the Janitor refused at first and then suddenly changed his mind. The Pastor wanted to re-confirm that the building was for sale and asked the janitor who wasn’t quite sure. He told the Pastor to be here the following evening at 5 o’clock. Before going home Pastor McKoy stopped by Mother Wormely’s house and told her what happened. The two of them prayed together and Mother Wormely decided to go with the Pastor the next day. When Pastor McKoy got home he talked about the church with his wife. She assured him that if this place then they would get it.
Pastor McKoy and Mother Wormely sat down with the owner and discussed if she was going to sell the building. She said yes and that she would talk to the trustees. Two days later the Pastor, his Lawyer, and Broker went with him to make a deposit for the church. They began to work and raise money for the down payment. After the leading of the Lord, they got most of the down payment. They still needed $2000 dollars. God laid it on Pastor’s heart to call Reverend R.D. Kelly of the St. John Baptize Church to ask for the remanding balance. Reverend told him that he does not lend money, but he would do it for him and gave pastor the remaining balance. After pastor got all of the money together, he went to work the next day and received the call that the owner of the church had passed away. The Devil said to him “you are done now.”
The spirit spoke to the Pastor and told him to attend the wake. After he got there and not knowing anyone there the owner's son approached him and informed Pastor that he wanted to talk to him. He directed the Pastor to the funeral home where his other sibling s were and gave him the good news. His mother made it very clear that she wanted the sale of the building to still take place although she had passed away. The children were instructed not to foreclose if payments were late and to give him time to pay. The Pastors lawyer was in totally agreement with these terms.
We thank God for one of our loving saints in the church. She does not want her named mentioned, but she gave the Pastor of $2000.00 dollars to pay off the mortgage. It was nobody but God who spoke to her heart.
After seeing Zion in a vision, we marched in January 1976. It’s this wonderful place for spirituality!
At this time, we would like to remember our loved ones who not only gave their prayers, but also gave in financial blessings.