WHEELING — Attendees at the “Heritage Sunday” service at Bethlehem Apostolic Temple swapped out their usual Sunday best for garments inspired by their heritage to celebrate the diversity of the Friendly City.

Suff. Bishop Darrell Cummings said the special service held Sunday was not just to celebrate Black heritage, as February is Black History Month, but to recognize all people’s heritage.

“We’re trying to say that everybody’s background is important because everybody’s background brought us to where we are right now,” Cummings said. “Someone else’s background and heritage is just as important as my background and heritage. All of our heritage may not be the same, and that’s good.”

Those at the service, which was open to the community, were asked to dress in clothing related to their heritage. Attendees wore a variety of clothes, from colorful scarves representing the country their family originated from to full outfits of traditional African dress styles.

During the service, Cummings had attendees stand up and share the significance of their attire.

Cummings, who wore his own heritage attire, noted that it was the first time he had ever ministered in short sleeves.

“I’ve never ministered in short sleeves, not because it’s against our religion or anything, I just hate short sleeves,” Cummings joked.

Various songs that commemorated attendees’ heritages were also performed. Following the service, participants could enjoy food items from a variety of different cultures at the church.

For Cummings, Sunday’s celebration demonstrated that the United States should not be identified as “the great melting pot” but instead as “the great stir fry.”

“In a melting pot, you lose your originality and you are conformed to be what everybody else is,” Cummings noted. “In the stir fry, your differences are accentuated to make the whole pot better. We don’t want to be a melting pot where we lose our background and our history.”

With the church celebrating its 90th anniversary this year, Cummings noted the temple had been celebrating its heritage for “a number of years.” To celebrate the church’s heritage on Sunday, various pictures from the church’s past were also on display during the service.

One item from the church’s past that was particularly significant to Cummings was a newspaper article chronicling the church members’ attendance at the historic March on Washington in 1963. There was also a copy of the flyer inviting members to attend the march that hung in the church in 1963.

“I wasn’t here in 1963, but I was told that the bus to the march originally wanted to leave from Wheeling, but there was so much animosity toward it that they had to have the bus leave from Bridgeport, Ohio,” Cummings said. “They all went and got on the bus in Bridgeport and then drove back through Wheeling on the way to the March. We have been celebrating our heritage for a number of years, and we just want to continue to do so.”

Cummings added it was important for the church to welcome all community members to the church for the celebration.

“We try to emphasize we’re not a Black church, and we’re not a white church. We’re just a church,” Cummings said. “We believe that what makes God happy is for all parts of the community to be welcomed.”