In the heart of downtown Suffolk, a little church, with a lot of history, is tucked away on Pine Street.

Macedonia African Methodist Episcopal Church will celebrate its 152nd anniversary on Aug. 19. The congregation started at the former Union Chapel, located in Cedar Hill Cemetery, and the current building was made from materials from the old Union Chapel.

The church has undergone renovations, but the outside of the building is still the original timbers.

“The timbers are the exact same as the day it was built, and this is the original ceiling,” the Rev. Derrell Wade said as he looked around the sanctuary.

Wade has been the pastor at Macedonia AME for the last five years, and it is his 23rd year in ministry. He has practiced ministry in Washington D.C., northern Virginia and Farmville before coming to Suffolk.

The congregation started in 1866, and it officially received the deed to the Pine Street lot in 1872.

The history of the church has always been rooted in welcoming the rest of the community into their institution, and this started as soon as the congregation had a roof over its head. When the church first opened its doors, it welcomed in the congregation of First Baptist Mahan, before it moved to its own facility, Wade said.

This kind of generosity and love for the community has continued to the present day, and they hope that this can help grow their congregation.

“Our objective is to reach out beyond these four walls,” Wade said. “We are an aging congregation, and we want to grow and reach the community so that we can be here another 150 years.”

Though the congregation is aging, a lot of the people coming every Sunday are part of families that have been coming to the church since its inception. Some of the people sit in the same seats every service, Wade said.

The church plans to celebrate the anniversary on Sunday with two different services at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. They have guests coming in to celebrate from New Jersey and Hampton. The Rev. Carl Wade will visit from Union AME Church in Allentown, N.J., for the first Sunday service. The second service will have the Rev. Andrew Jefferson visiting from Bethel AME Church in Hampton.