First African Baptist Church (Savannah, Georgia)

First African Baptist Church
Front view, First African Baptist Church
Map
Location23 Montgomery Street
Franklin Square
Savannah, Georgia
CountryUnited States
DenominationBaptist
Websitewww.theoldestblackchurch.org
History
Founded1777
Founder(s)George Leile
Architecture
Years built1859
Administration
DivisionNational Baptist Convention, U. S. A. Inc.
SubdivisionGeneral Missionary Baptist Convention of Georgia, Inc.
Clergy
Pastor(s)Thurmond Neill Tillman
First African Baptist Church
Part ofSavannah Historic District (ID66000277)
Added to NRHPNovember 13, 1966[1]

First African Baptist Church, located in Savannah, Georgia, claims to be derived from the first black Baptist congregation in North America. While it was not officially organized until 1788, it grew from members who founded a congregation in 1773. Its claim of "first" is contested by the Silver Bluff Baptist Church, Aiken County, South Carolina (1773),[2][3] and the First Baptist Church of Petersburg, Virginia, whose congregation officially organized in 1774.[4]

First African Baptist Church operates a museum which displays memorabilia dating back to the 18th century.

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. ^ Raboteau, Albert J. (2004). Slave Religion: The "Invisible Institution" in the Antebellum South. Oxford University Press. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-19-517413-7. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
  3. ^ Brooks, Walter H. (April 1, 1922). "The Priority of the Silver Bluff Church and its Promoters". The Journal of Negro History. 7 (2): 172–196. doi:10.2307/2713524. ISSN 0022-2992. JSTOR 2713524. S2CID 149920027.
  4. ^ Raboteau, Albert J. (2004). Slave Religion: The 'Invisible Institution' in the Antebellum South. Oxford University Press. pp. 139, 141, 189. ISBN 9780195174137. Retrieved December 27, 2008.

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