"First Baptist Church"(est.1774)

Was the Baptist Church in Petersburg,one of the First African-American Baptist congregations in the United States,and one of the oldest churches in the nation.It also established one of of the first local schools in the nation for black children.Its congregation.Its congregation was active during the Civil Rights Movement.Today it has the largest community outreach program in the city.In the earliest decades of the Baptist Church in the Southeast,it was influenced by preachers from New England who generated the Great Awakening.As more churches were started,members came together in an association.With growth,in 1781 the association of churches spilt into two parts along state lines for Virginia and North Carolina.The Twenty-One congregations in Virginia formed the Portsmouth Baptist Association,named after their first meeting place.Representativeworked to form church policy.From 1810 to 1828 they began to work on Foreign Missions and Christian Education.Later they established Sabbath Schools.The history of First Baptist Church started with scatted black members in Prince George County worshipping as New Lights in 1756 after the Great Awakeing.Baptist preachers had traveled widely in the South where they appealed to both blacks and whites in evangelical outreach.In the early years,such preachers strongly supported an anti-slaverly message based on the equality of men made in god's image.Their democratic message and willingness to welcome blacks in active roles attracted roles many new members to the Baptists, despite the established role of the Anglican Church in Virginia.In some areas,energetic young men without many other opportunities were the ones to take up leadership roles as Baptist preachers and challenge the class system of the colony.In 1774 some of the New Light members united under the Rev.John Michaels.Calling themselves the First Baptist Church,hey met in Lunenburg in a building on the plantation of Colonel William Byrd 3. After their meetinghouse at the byrd plantation was destroyed in fire,in 1820 free members of the congregation moved into Petersburg,Virginia,where there was a growing free black community.(From about 300 blacks in 1790,the community in Petersburg grew tenfold to 3,224 by 1860,when it was the largest black population in the South.In that year on the eve of the Civil War,there were also about 6.000 enslaved African Americans and 9.000whites in the city.)With the move into Petersburg,the congregation took the name of First Baptist Church,and built their first Church on Harrison Avenue (near the location of the current Church.) This was one of two early black Baptist churches; they were the first of that denomination to be established in Petersburg.Emphasizing education,the First Baptist congregation also created one of the earliest local schools for black children in the nation.From its begingnning,the congregation had been led by black pastors.In the wake of Nat Turner Slave rebellion in 1831,however,planters became so alarmed about the potential for relgious messages to cause other revolts they they passed legislation in 1832 requirring that all black churches be led by white pastors.The planters believed they could ensure control of the message that whites would deliever.This situation lasted until after the Civil War,when blacks took back control of their church.By 1865 First Baptist had 1700 members.Rev. Leonard A.Black was pastor from 1873-1883,during which time the congregation grew to 3,600 members.The church grew after the war as freedmen came to Petersburg from outlying areas,and the congregation helped people adjust to urban life.The current church at 236 Harrison Avenue was built starting in 1870,after a fire burned the previous one.The congregation steadily added the church,completing the steeple during Black's pastorate.In the late 1880s its pastor Rev.Charles B. Gordon also edited The Pilot(later known as The National Pilot),a paper that was said to be a mouthpiece for Baptist in Virginia.