Bishop Aretha Morton to be Honored with a Ceremonial Street Renaming

Washington Street, between 5th and 6th Streets, is renamed “Bishop Aretha E. Morton Way”

Wilmington Mayor Dennis P. Williams, City Council President Theo Gregory and Council Member At-Large Justen Wright today announced an extraordinary honor for Bishop Aretha E. Morton, Pastor of the Tabernacle Full Gospel Baptist Cathedral in Wilmington. Delaware’s first female pastor of a Baptist church and Wilmington’s first female and African-American to be named  Chaplain of the Wilmington Fire Department, is having a City street renamed in her honor.

Mayor Williams, with the support of Council President Gregory and Council Member Wright, has signed an Executive Order directing that a block-long portion of Washington Street, between 5th and 6th Streets, be renamed “Bishop Aretha E. Morton Way.” The Baptist church at which Bishop Morton became the first female pastor 33 years ago is situated at the intersection of 5th and Washington Streets. The Mayor said a ceremony will be scheduled in the near future to officially unveil the new street signage.

Mayor Williams said Bishop Morton, who has been preaching the Gospel for 57 years, is a nationally-recognized trailblazer for women in the ministry. “She is a person who is widely respected in our City and nationally and from whom generations of Wilmingtonians and others have sought spiritual guidance as well as her wisdom and counsel on a variety of important community issues. Council President Gregory, Council Member Wright, all Council Members and scores of people throughout Wilmington join me in honoring Bishop Morton for her many years of service to Wilmington and its citizens.”

Bishop Morton currently serves on the College of Bishops as the Delaware State Bishop for the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship International, which consists of 2,500 churches and more than one million congregants.

(Photo of Bishop Aretha Morton and her son Reverend Donald Morton courtesy Kyle Grantham/The News Journal)

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For more information about this news release, contact:

Alexandra M. Coppadge
Communications Director
Office of Mayor Dennis P. Williams
Phone:  (302) 576-2104
Mobile: (302) 740-0675
Email: amcoppadge@WilmingtonDE.gov

John Rago
Communications and Policy Development Director
Wilmington City Council
Phone:  (302) 576-2149
Mobile: (302) 420-7928
Email: jrago@WilmingtonDE.gov