Big Bethel AME Church seen from across Auburn Avenue, in 2012
Historyedit
The Big Bethel AME Church was founded in 1847 as Union Church in Marthasville, Georgia. They changed their name to Union Church then to Big Bethel AME Church, then Bethel Tabernacle.[citation needed] At the close of the Civil War, the church spread throughout the former Confederacy, and the Bethel Tabernacle allied with the denomination, becoming Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Its first pastor was Reverend Joseph Woods.[1]
In 1879, the first public school for blacks in Atlanta, Gate City Colored School, was founded in the basement of the church, though it would later move to Houston Street.[citation needed]Morris Brown College held its first classes in the church in 1881 before moving to its first campus. Big Bethel was known as "Sweet Auburn's City Hall."
bethel, church, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, february, 2. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Big Bethel AME Church news newspapers books scholar JSTOR February 2024 Learn how and when to remove this message This article relies excessively on references to primary sources Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources Find sources Big Bethel AME Church news newspapers books scholar JSTOR July 2012 Learn how and when to remove this message The Big Bethel AME Church a black church on Sweet Auburn in Atlanta Georgia 1 Big Bethel AME Church seen from across Auburn Avenue in 2012History editThe Big Bethel AME Church was founded in 1847 as Union Church in Marthasville Georgia They changed their name to Union Church then to Big Bethel AME Church then Bethel Tabernacle citation needed At the close of the Civil War the church spread throughout the former Confederacy and the Bethel Tabernacle allied with the denomination becoming Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church Its first pastor was Reverend Joseph Woods 1 In 1879 the first public school for blacks in Atlanta Gate City Colored School was founded in the basement of the church though it would later move to Houston Street citation needed Morris Brown College held its first classes in the church in 1881 before moving to its first campus Big Bethel was known as Sweet Auburn s City Hall In 1911 President William Howard Taft spoke in the church as did Nelson Mandela in 1990 1 During the 1960s the church served as the annual meeting place for the Atlanta Negro Voters League 2 The morality play Heaven Bound was written by attendees and is performed annually at the church 3 References edit a b c About Bethel Big Bethel AME website Atlanta Negro Voters League 1959 credo library umass edu Retrieved 2024 02 17 Heaven Bound Time 10 August 1931 External links editOfficial Website 33 45 21 N 84 22 50 W 33 7558 N 84 3805 W 33 7558 84 3805 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Big Bethel AME Church amp oldid 1208692358, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
