Ebenezer Baptist Church of Atlanta

Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia was founded in 1886 during the Reconstruction Era in the South. The Rev. John A. Parker, born into slavery, was the founder and first pastor. The original church was a box-like structure on Airline Street, NE. The Rev. Adam Daniel Williams succeeded Rev. Parker on March 14, 1894. One of his first achievements was to add approximately 65 members to the church during the first year. His next achievement was to build a church on McGruder Street. That church later became known as Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church.

The membership moved from there to Bell and Gilmore streets. From there the membership worshipped in a storefront structure at 444 Edgewood Avenue from 1912 to 1914 while the basement of the structure of the building now known as the Heritage Sanctuary at407 Auburn Avenue was under construction. In 1914 the congregation moved into the basement of that facility and in 1922 the sanctuary was completed. This sanctuary became a spiritual haven for civil rights activists when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. served as senior pastor in the 1960s. On the self-guided audio tour, King's inspirational sermons will take visitors back in time, while the new Horizon Sanctuary across the street is home to the present day congregation, highlighted by its traditional tabernacle choir

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