Big Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Atlanta, Georgia, Supports Civil Rights Legacy and Community Housing

Big Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church is known as the first Black church in Atlanta, according to the Atlanta News First report, though the church does not always receive credit for its role in the civil rights movement, Black education, social change and political influence. The report says that for more than a century Big Bethel has lifted up Black voices when others tried to silence them.

Pastor John Foster, who has led the congregation for the past 11 years, described the building’s size in the city’s history. “There wasn’t a bigger Black-held facility in the city of Atlanta than this place. Us and Wheat Street were it for Black congregations meeting over a thousand people,” he said.

Foster said the church’s outreach extends beyond its walls. “We support a halfway house for men dealing with substance abuse two blocks away. Right behind us is this 180-unit affordable housing complex called Bethel Towers that gives subsidized housing to the community,” he said. He added that “We have young people that work really diligently with the homeless,” a commitment that reflects care for neighbors in need (Hebrews 13:16).

The report traces the church’s roots to the late 1700s in Pennsylvania, when former slave Richard Allen was forbidden from praying at St. George’s Church. Allen formed the original Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. According to the report, his influence later reached the South, leading to the founding of Atlanta’s first Methodist Episcopal Church, Bethel Tabernacle.

Foster said that during the 1960s, Big Bethel was one of four civil rights churches along a single strip. “It was on this strip here — Wheat Street, then Big Bethel, and then Ebenezer and Butler Street,” he said. The report adds that the church became a gathering place where prominent civil rights leaders and politicians met.

Historian Ernest Tate said classes were eventually held at Big Bethel, though he noted that other sites were also used. The report says Morris Brown College was born out of the church’s basement.

Charles Moore, a Morris Brown College graduate who is now 100 years old, recalled his time on campus after serving in World War II. He majored in business, graduated with honors and later returned to run the college’s business operations. “I ended up staying there 15 years at Morris Brown. Could you imagine that?” Moore said.

Source: Read the original report