A request that this article title be changed to Ebenezer Baptist Church is under discussion. Please do not move this article until the discussion is closed. |
Ebenezer Baptist Church | |
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Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta | |
33°45′19″N84°22′27″W / 33.75528°N 84.37417°W Coordinates: 33°45′19″N84°22′27″W / 33.75528°N 84.37417°W | |
Location | Atlanta |
Country | United States |
Denomination | Progressive National Baptist Convention, American Baptist Churches USA |
Website | ebenezeratl |
History | |
Founded | 1886 |
Clergy | |
Senior pastor(s) | Raphael Warnock |
Ebenezer Baptist Church is a Baptist church located in Atlanta, United States, affiliated with the Progressive National Baptist Convention and American Baptist Churches USA. It was the church where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was co-pastor from 1960 until his assassination in 1968, the location of the funerals of both Dr. King and congressman John Lewis, and the church for which United States Senator-elect Raphael Warnock has been pastor since 2005. it is located in the historic area, now designated as the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park.
The church was founded in 1886 by Pastor John A. Parker and eight people. [1] Adam Daniel Williams (maternal grandfather of Martin Luther King Jr.) became pastor in 1894, and the church had only 13 members. It grew to 400 members by 1903 [2] and in 1913, the church had 750 people. [3] In 1922, the building was dedicated. [4] In 1927, Martin Luther King Sr. became assistant pastor, with his father-in-law. [1] He later became the main pastor when Rev. Williams died in 1931. In 1960, Martin Luther King Jr. became co-pastor of the church with his father until his assassination in 1968. [5]
In 1999, a new 1,700-seat church building called the Horizon Sanctuary was inaugurated within the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park. [6]
Since 2005, Raphael Warnock has been the senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church; [7] he is the fifth person to serve as Ebenezer's senior pastor since its founding. [8] On January 30, 2020, Warnock announced his campaign for Kelly Loeffler's Senate seat during the 2020 special election. In a special runoff election on January 5th, 2021, Reverend Warnock defeated Loeffler receiving 51% of the popular vote. With this victory, Warnock made history by becoming the first Black senator from the state of Georgia. [9] [10]
The funeral of Martin Luther King Jr. was held at the church on April 9, 1968. [11] The funeral of Rayshard Brooks was held on June 23, 2020 at the church. [11] The funeral of John Lewis was held on July 30, 2020 at the church. [11]
The pastors of Ebenezer Baptist Church since its foundation have been as follows: [12]
Coretta Scott King was an American author, activist, civil rights leader, and the wife of Martin Luther King Jr. An advocate for African-American equality, she was a leader for the civil rights movement in the 1960s. King was also a singer who often incorporated music into her civil rights work. King met her husband while attending graduate school in Boston. They both became increasingly active in the American civil rights movement.
Dexter Scott King is an American civil rights activist and the second son of civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King. King is also the brother of Martin Luther King III, Bernice King, and Yolanda King.
Martin Luther King Sr. was an African American Baptist pastor, missionary, and an early figure in the Civil Rights Movement. He was the father and namesake of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
Alberta Christine Williams King was Martin Luther King Jr.'s mother and the wife of Martin Luther King Sr. She played a significant role in the affairs of the Ebenezer Baptist Church. She was shot and killed in the church by Marcus Wayne Chenault, a 23-year-old black male six years after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park covers about 35 acres and includes several buildings in Atlanta, Georgia related to the life and work of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Within the park is his boyhood home and the original Ebenezer Baptist Church, the church where King was baptized and both his father Martin Luther King Sr. and he were pastors.
The Abyssinian Baptist Church is a Baptist megachurch located at 132 West 138th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and Lenox Avenue in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, affiliated with the National Baptist Convention, USA.
Bernice Albertine King is an American minister and the second youngest child of civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King. She was five years old when her father was assassinated. In her adolescence, King chose to work towards becoming a minister after having a breakdown from watching a documentary about her father. King was 17 when she was invited to speak at the United Nations. Twenty years after her father was assassinated, she preached her trial sermon, inspired by her parents' activism.
Alfred Daniel Williams King Sr. was an American Baptist minister and civil rights activist. He was the younger brother of Martin Luther King Jr.
The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, commonly known as The King Center, is a nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization in Atlanta, United States.
Willie Christine King Farris is the eldest and only living sibling of Martin Luther King Jr. She taught at Spelman College and is the author of several books and a public speaker on various topics, including the King family, multicultural education, and teaching.
The sermons and speeches of Martin Luther King Jr., comprise an extensive catalog of American writing and oratory – some of which are internationally well-known, while others remain unheralded and await rediscovery.
Gillfield Baptist Church is the second-oldest black Baptist congregation in Petersburg, Virginia and one of the oldest in the nation. It has the oldest handwritten record book of any black church. It was organized in 1797 as a separate, integrated congregation. In 1818 it built its first church at its current lot on Perry Street.
The first memorial service following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968, took place the following day at the R.S. Lewis Funeral Home in Memphis, Tennessee. This was followed by two funeral services on April 9, 1968, in Atlanta, Georgia, the first held for family and close friends at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King and his father had both served as senior pastors, followed by a three-mile procession to Morehouse College, King's alma mater, for a public service.
The Reverend Horatius Holipheal Coleman, better known as H. H. Coleman, was an American church pastor and evangelist. Reverend Coleman, who was born in Decatur, Georgia, was senior pastor of Greater Macedonia Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, from 1935 until his death in 1969. He was the paternal great-grandfather of former U.S. Representative Kendrick B. Meek, and the maternal grandfather of actress Barbara Meek.
The International Civil Rights Walk of Fame, which honors some of the activists involved in the Civil Rights Movement and others involved in civil rights activities, was created in 2004 and is located at the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site in Atlanta. It consists of a promenade that showcases the footstep impressions of those honored, marked in granite and bronze. According to the National Park Service, which runs the historic site, the Walk of Fame was created "to give recognition to those courageous soldiers of justice who sacrificed and struggled to make equality a reality for all." Another motivation was to enhance the historic value of the area, enrich its cultural heritage, and make the site a better tourist attraction.
On January 30, 2006, Coretta Scott King, the widow of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., died after arriving at a rehabilitation center in Rosarito Beach, Mexico. Her public funeral followed eight days later at the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in her resident state of Georgia. In keeping with her personal wishes, King was buried next to her husband in a crypt on the grounds of the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change.
The Martin Luther King Sr. Community Resources Collaborative named after the late Reverend turned community activist Martin Luther King Sr., held its official dedication ceremony, November 4, 2012. The 8-million-dollar brick complex is located at 101 Jackson Street NE, in the "National Historic King District," of Atlanta, Georgia, which is also known as the Sweet Auburn and Old Fourth Ward Districts. The Collaborative, often referred to as the MLK Sr. CRC, is three stories tall and houses the fellowship hall of Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Reverend King Sr. once pastored and co-pastored with his son Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Also serving as a mini historical museum, the Collaborative, houses and displays relics from Reverend King Sr., such as his sermon notes, documents, clothing, pictures and the original church organ that his late wife, Alberta Christine Williams King played during Ebenezer services.
The 2020–21 United States Senate special election in Georgia arose from the resignation of Republican Class III Senator Johnny Isakson, effective December 31, 2019. Governor Brian Kemp appointed Republican Kelly Loeffler to serve as Isakson's interim replacement, effective January 6, 2020, and she has held the seat since. The election was held concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as with other elections to the Senate, elections to the U.S. House of Representatives and various state and local elections. The winner would serve out the balance of Isakson's third term, which ends on January 3, 2023.
Raphael Gamaliel Warnock is an American pastor and politician from Georgia. A United States senator-elect after defeating incumbent Kelly Loeffler, Warnock will assume office in January 2021 after the election results are certified.
Behold is a statue designed by sculptor Patrick Morelli. Dedicated in 1990 by Coretta Scott King, the statue is located in front of Ebenezer Baptist Church, in the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park.