The First Baptist Church is a Baptist church and a historic landmark. The First Baptist Church is located on South Perry Street, in downtown Montgomery, Alabama. Founded in 1829, it had a mixed congregation (consisting of enslaved and free blacks as well as whites) until 1867 when most African-American members (themselves often the slaves of the white congregationists) branched off to found their own church, initially called "First Baptist Church, colored" a few blocks away on Ripley Street.

History

The church was founded in 1829 by Lee Compere, who had been sent out to do missionary work among the Creek Indians in Tallassee, east of Montgomery. The current building was constructed between 1905 and 1923 and is based on the

Florence Cathedral Florence Cathedral, formally the (; in English Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower), is the cathedral of Florence, Italy ( it, Duomo di Firenze). It was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to a design of Arnolfo di Cambio and was structurally c ...

. In April 1965, by now an all-white church, in light of the ongoing struggle for civil rights, the pastor, J.R. White, and the church's deacons proposed an 'open door policy' to the First Baptist Church congregation. Although originally rejected, the proposal was subsequently accepted, and has been described as one of the first 'cracks in the segregated church.'. Dale Huff became pastor in 1980. In 1991, Jay Wolf become pastor of First Baptist for 29 years until he retired in 2020. On September 30th, 2021, an arsonist attempted to set fire to the main sanctuary, the historic Stakely sanctuary, as well as some other office spaces within the church. The reception office was destroyed and there were several burn spots on the carpet of both sanctuaries. Fire also damaged a few pews in the main sanctuary and smoke and soot were throughout the church.

References

External links

* Baptist churches in Alabama Churches in Montgomery, Alabama 1829 establishments in Alabama Southern Baptist Convention churches {{MontgomeryAL-stub