New Bethel Baptist Church is a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christianity, Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe ...

church located at 8430 C. L. Franklin Boulevard (also called Linwood Street) in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. It is affiliated with the

National Baptist Convention, USA The National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., more commonly known as the National Baptist Convention (NBC USA or NBC), is a primarily African American Baptist Christian denomination in the United States. It is headquartered at the Baptist World Ce ...

. Founded in 1932, the church was led by

C. L. Franklin Clarence LaVaughn Franklin ( ''né'' Walker; January 22, 1915 – July 27, 1984) was an American Baptist minister and civil rights activist. Known as the man with the "Million-Dollar Voice", Franklin served as the pastor of New Bethel Baptist ...

from 1946 until 1979 and was at the center of the

civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

in Detroit. Robert Smith Jr. has been the pastor since 1982. The building was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

in 2021.

History

The church was founded March 6, 1932. V. L. Bolton was the first pastor and was followed by Horatius "H.H." Coleman (1932–1935), N. H. Armstrong (1935–1940) and William E. Ramsey (1940–1946).

C. L. Franklin years

Growth of the congregation

In May 1946,

became the pastor. When Franklin became pastor, the congregation had 400 members and met in a bowling alley at Willis and Hastings. In October 1951, the church moved into a new church, built at a cost of $250,000 with a seating capacity of 2,500, at 4210 Hastings Street in Detroit. In the 1950s, New Bethel became known for its gospel choir which had weekly radio broadcasts. Participants included Franklin, music director Thomas Shelby, and Franklin's daughter

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the "Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

James Cleveland James Edward Cleveland (December 5, 1931 – February 9, 1991) was an American gospel singer, musician, and composer. Known as the King of Gospel, Cleveland was a driving force behind the creation of the modern gospel sound by incorporating tra ...

served as organist and sometimes conductor in the early 1950s. In 1956, a 14-year-old Aretha Franklin made her first recordings for J-V-B Records at New Bethel. In 1961, the church lost its Hastings Street building to construction of the Chrysler Freeway. The church, which had 4,000 members at the time, moved to the Gold Coast Theater (8210 Twelfth) for the next two years.

Move to Oriole Theater building

On March 10, 1963, the church moved to the previously-dilapidated Oriole Theater at the corner of Linwood and Philadelphia in Detroit. Detroit architect Nathan Johnson oversaw the remodeling which cost more than $500,000. The project was Detroit's "first major all-Negro building project", using an architect, contractors, and financing from the African-American community. The ''Detroit Free Press'' described the new structure as follows: "The row of glass doors at the entrance and the vast expanse of whiteness inside gives one the feeling of entering a miniature Cobo Hall." More than 2,000 persons participated in a procession of cars from the temporary home at the Gold Coast Theater to the new site. At the time, Franklin described the trip as a "trip from the valley to the mountain."

Civil rights movement

During the 1960s, New Bethel under Franklin became a center of the

in Detroit. Events occurring at New Bethel included: * In May 1963, Franklin was elected chairman of the Detroit Council of Human Rights and petitioned Detroit's Common Council for permission to conduct a march that became known as the Detroit Walk to Freedom. The group also adopted the "Declaration of Detroit" noting that 30% of Detroit's population was African-American, yet 70% of the city's African-Americans lived in substandard housing. The Detroit Walk to Freedom, planned by Franklin and members of New Bethel, took place on June 23, 1963. The protest had 125,000 persons, was the largest civil rights demonstration in the country's history to that point, and culminated in a speech by Martin Luther King Jr. at Cobo Hall. * In February 1965, a rally was held at New Bethel to raise funds for Dr. King's voter registration drive in

Selma, Alabama Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, in the Black Belt region of south central Alabama and extending to the west. Located on the banks of the Alabama River, the city has a population of 17,971 as of the 2020 census. Abou ...

. * In November 1965,

Coretta Scott King Coretta Scott King ( Scott; April 27, 1927 – January 30, 2006) was an American author, activist, and civil rights leader who was married to Martin Luther King Jr. from 1953 until his death. As an advocate for African-American equality, she ...

delivered the key note address at the annual Women's Day services at New Bethel. * In October 1966, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a speech at the annual men's day dinner at New Bethel. * In November 1966,

James Meredith James Howard Meredith (born June 25, 1933) is an American civil rights activist, writer, political adviser, and Air Force veteran who became, in 1962, the first African-American student admitted to the racially segregated University of Missis ...

, five months after being shot during his

March Against Fear The March Against Fear was a major 1966 demonstration in the Civil Rights Movement in the South. Activist James Meredith launched the event on June 5, 1966, intending to make a solitary walk from Memphis, Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi via ...

in Mississippi, spoke at a rally at New Bethel. * In April 1969, a memorial for Dr. King was held at New Bethel on the first anniversary of his assassination.

Police shootout

On March 29, 1969, the church was rented by the Republic of New Africa as the site of a black separatist convention. A shootout between police and members of the movement resulted in the death of a police officer. Police raided the church and arrested 150 persons in attendance. A juvenile, Imari Obadele 2, aka Richard B. Henry Jr., was among the 150 persons in attendance son and nephew of Imari Obadele and Gaidi Obadele, was in fact the last person to be released some days later. A controversy followed after the attendees were held and questioned without counsel. During the incident, police fired into the church, causing extensive damage, and resulting in the need for financing to repair the "bullet-scarred" building. In May 1969, as the controversy over the police raid and shooting continued, Franklin was arrested by Detroit police who claimed that they found marijuana in his luggage; Franklin denied the charge, wondered if the incident was connected to the church shooting, and asserted, "Somebody wants to disgrace me." Police had held the luggage for 24 hours, and Franklin claimed he had never in his life smoked marijuana. The charge was dismissed one month later for insufficient evidence.

1970s and Franklin's shooting

In January 1974, two gunshots were fired into the church during a service conducted by Franklin. Two attendees were injured. In June 1979, Franklin was shot twice by burglars at his home in Detroit. Franklin remained in a coma until his death from

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...

on July 27, 1984. His funeral, held at New Bethel, was reported to be the largest in Detroit history, and featured

Jesse Jackson Jesse Louis Jackson ( né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American political activist, Baptist minister, and politician. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as a shadow U.S. senato ...

as a speaker. In June 2016, the portion of Linwood Street adjacent to the church was renamed Rev. Dr. C. L. Franklin Boulevard.

Notable funerals and weddings

Since the 1960s, New Bethel has been the site of funerals and memorial services for many notable Detroit residents, including the following: * Singer

Dinah Washington Dinah Washington (born Ruth Lee Jones; August 29, 1924 – December 14, 1963) was an American singer and pianist, who has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the 1950s songs". Primarily a jazz vocalist, she performe ...

in December 1963, * Civil rights activist and UAW vice president

Nelson "Jack" Edwards Nelson "Jack" Edwards (1917–1974) was Vice President of the UAW (United Auto Workers), and a founder of CBTU, the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists. Nelson Edwards was born in 1917 on a farm in Lowndes County, Alabama. In 1937 he moved to Detr ...

in November 1974, *

Florence Ballard Florence Glenda Chapman (''née'' Ballard; June 30, 1943 – February 22, 1976) was an American singer and a founding member of the Motown vocal female group the Supremes. She sang on 16 top 40 singles with the group, including ten number-o ...

The Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group and a premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as the Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successf ...

in February 1976, * Philippé Wynne, lead singer of The Spinners, in July 1984, *

, longtime pastor of New Bethel and Civil Rights activist, father of

, in August 1984, and *

David Ruffin David Eli Ruffin (born Davis Eli Ruffin;Ribowsky, p. 88 January 18, 1941 – June 1, 1991) was an American soul singer and musician most famous for his work as one of the lead singers of the Temptations (1964–68) during the group's "Cla ...

, lead singer of

The Temptations The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top ...

, in June 1991. Aretha Franklin was also married to

Glynn Turman Glynn Russell Turman (born January 31, 1947) is an American actor, writer, director, and producer. Turman is known for his roles as Lew Miles on the prime-time soap opera ''Peyton Place (TV series), Peyton Place'' (1968–1969), high school stude ...

there in April 1978 in a ceremony featuring singing by

The Four Tops ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

Later years

After Franklin's shooting in 1979, the church suffered from a power struggle for more than two years. In June 1982, Robert Smith Jr. became the new pastor. Smith remains as the church's pastor as of 2020. In 1987, Aretha Franklin recorded the album, ''

One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism ''One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism'' is a 1987 gospel album recorded by Aretha Franklin, for Arista Records. Recorded at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, over the course of three nights (July 27, 28, and 30, 1987), ''One Lord, O ...

'', at the church, releasing the album on the Arista label. The album was re-released in 2003 with previously unreleased songs.Discogs - '' One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism'' 2003
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References

External links

Official site