The Third Baptist Church, formerly the First Colored Baptist Church, is an American
Baptist church founded in 1852, and located in the
Western Addition neighborhood of San Francisco, California. It is the city of San Francisco's oldest African-American church.
The church occupied several spaces in San Francisco over the course of its history. Since 1976, Rev.
Amos C. Brown
Amos Cleophilus Brown (born February 20, 1941) is an African American pastor and civil rights activist. He is the president of the San Francisco branch of the NAACP, and has been the pastor of the Third Baptist Church of San Francisco since 1976 ...
has been the pastor.
It is affiliated with the
American Baptist Churches USA.
The Third Baptist Church Complex is listed as a
San Francisco Designated Landmark since November 15, 2017.
History
In August 1852, the First Colored Baptist Church congregation was founded in the house of Eliza and William Davis, by Black parishioners including the Davis family, Abraham Brown, Thomas Bundy, Harry Fields, Thomas Davenport, Willie Denton, George Lewis, and Fielding Spotts.
Prior to 1852, African American Baptist parishioners attended the primarily-white First Baptist Church, and were forced to sit in the balcony.
Other African American churches founded in 1852 in San Francisco included
Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church (Bethel AME Church), and African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (AME Zion Church).
The first location of the church building was founded in 1852 at the corner Grant Avenue and Greenwich Street in San Francisco.
The former Grant Avenue location is listed as a
California Historical Landmark (Number 1010) since February 16, 1993.
In 1854, the church was moved to Dupont Street at Greenwich Street, the location was the former First Baptist Church.
A year later in 1855, the church was renamed as the Third Baptist Church but the name did not legally changed until 1908.
The church building at 1399 McAllister Street was designed by architect William F. Gunnison and completed in 1952.
In 1958,
W. E. B. Du Bois
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American-Ghanaian sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in ...
spoke to the church congregation.
Pastors
* Rev. Charles Satchell, 1857 to 1858;
* Rev. J. H. Kelley, March 14, 1869, to ?;
* Rev. Frederick Douglas Haynes Sr., August 29, 1932 to 1971;
* Rev. Frederick Douglas Haynes Jr., June 25, 1972 to September 3, 1975;
* Rev.
Amos C. Brown
Amos Cleophilus Brown (born February 20, 1941) is an African American pastor and civil rights activist. He is the president of the San Francisco branch of the NAACP, and has been the pastor of the Third Baptist Church of San Francisco since 1976 ...
, September 19, 1976 to present
See also
*
African Americans in California
*
Black church
*
List of San Francisco Designated Landmarks
*
Racial segregation of churches in the United States
References
External links
Official website
{{Authority control
1852 establishments in California
California Historical Landmarks
San Francisco Designated Landmarks
African-American churches
Churches in San Francisco
African-American history in San Francisco
American Baptist Churches USA churches