Trailblazing Pastor Dies At 102

by Thomas Breen The New Haven independent

Apostle Martha V. Green, a retired laundry worker and pioneering local faith leader who founded St. Mary’s Unison Free Will Baptist Church in 1973 and mentored other female ministers over the course of more than six decades preaching in New Haven, has died at the age of 102.

Green passed away on Saturday, Feb. 14, according to her niece Andrea Singleton, St. Mary’s Sunday school superintendent Nathaniel Jones, and Sean Hardy, who identified Green as a relative, mentor, and spiritual guide.

An official statement attributed to Pastor Gershom Bey also confirms that Green “completed her earthly assignment and entered into eternal rest on February 14, 2026 when her true Valentine, our Lord, called her name.”

Green was born on April 5, 1923 in Greenville, North Carolina and migrated to New Haven in 1953 with her husband Willie to join her brothers, who worked at the Winchester Arms plant. Willie found work at the Malleable Iron factory. Martha worked at Yale New Haven Hospital, then, until retirement, in the laundry room at the Veterans Administration hospital in West Haven.

Hardy said that Green joined Pitts Chapel when she moved to New Haven in 1953. She gave her first sermon at Pitts Chapel in 1963, and went on to found St. Mary’s a decade later. Over the years, the church moved from Grand Avenue to Goffe Street to Kossuth Street to Shelton Avenue — right beside where a street corner now bears her name, as approved by the Board of Alders in 2019.

In 2010, the Independent named her one of five New Haveners of the Year for her work building up the congregation at St. Mary’s, training a new generation of female ministers, and striking a $1 million deal with Yale to sell the church’s Goffe Street property as part of its ultimate move to Newhallville.

“She was a mentor to so many,” recalled Singleton. “She was a trailblazer.” She said that Green — her late mother’s sister — was the last surviving sibling among ten brothers and sisters. “She still preached once a month,” Singleton said, and, all things considered, was in good health and “in her right mind.” This is “bittersweet” for the St. Mary’s church community and for New Haven, even as it’s an opportunity to reflect on a long life well lived.

Jones recalled being invited to a service of Green’s at St. Mary’s in 1983. “I knew I was home and I’ve been there ever since,” he said, now serving as the church’s Sunday school superintendent, trustee, choir member, and usher board member, among other roles.

“The most captivating thing about Apostle Green was her ability to reach all age groups and all genders,” he said. “She was just always relevant,” regardless of who she was talking to. “I think it’s because of the deep commitment to God and her deep commitment to being a mother,” to nurture others and see them grow.

Jones recalled being “very, very, very ill” in 1995 and collapsing in the middle of one of Green’s services. “I remember her running down from the pulpit, bending down over me, talking to God on my behalf, and declaring that God has issued me new blood.” He said her support — as a spiritual leader, as a community leader — helped him “spiral upward” as a member of the congregation.

Jones said that Green lived with a family member in Hamden and continued to attend church remotely up until the very end of her life, even though she couldn’t make it in person in part because of the recent heavy snow fall. He said she taught a Bible study class last Wednesday, and participated in early-morning prayer services online last Thursday and Friday.

“It’s a tough loss, but we’re grateful we’ve had so much time,” he said. When Green turned over her pastorship of the church five years ago, Jones said, he prayed for her to have a decade to watch “her baby” — St. Mary’s — grow. While she didn’t have all ten years, “she knows we’re solid. She left knowing that we’re OK.”

Hardy said that he had spoken with Green just a couple of weeks ago, and was planning to be the master of ceremonies at her upcoming 103rd birthday, to be celebrated at St. Mary’s in April. “I’ve known her my whole life,” he said about Green. “What a life. What a legacy.”

“I want New Haven to remember her teaching,” Hardy said. “To remember her preaching. To remember her encouragement. To remember her spirituality. To remember her mentorship. To remember that most of all, she always wanted people to know who God was.”