(RNS) — Five historically Black churches have been awarded $1 million each from a grant program that aims to help preserve their assets and legacies and keep them vibrant for future generations.
The $5 million in grants, part of the Preserving Black Churches program of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, were announced on Monday (Jan. 19) to mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The recipients, including churches from South Carolina to Los Angeles, will also be offered consultation services and technical expertise for stewardship planning and long-term asset management.
“These churches represent multifaceted legacies spanning critical moments in American history and culture,” said Brent Leggs, the fund’s executive director and strategic adviser to the CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, in a statement. “Thanks to generous funding from … Lilly Endowment Inc. and our team’s strategic partnership, the Action Fund is ensuring that these historic churches can continue to exist as civic spaces of faith, education, beauty, and belonging for generations to come.”
The five grant recipients are:
- First African Baptist Church in Beaufort, South Carolina, which has had an active congregation since 1863. Its members have included Robert Smalls, a Black congressman in the Reconstruction era who was known for escaping from slavery by commandeering a Confederate ship during the Civil War and achieving freedom for 16 others.
Second Baptist Church in Los Angeles. (Photo by Vivian Chan)
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- Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Chicago, whose construction began in 1922. It became famous in 1955 for hosting the funeral of Emmett Till, the Black teenager whose lynching galvanized the Civil Rights Movement.
- Second Baptist Church in Los Angeles, whose current structure was dedicated in 1926. It has been the site of speeches by King and Malcolm X and conventions of the NAACP.
- Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, whose building was dedicated in 1794. It is the birthplace of the AME denomination, founded by Richard Allen, and stands on the oldest parcel of land continuously owned by Black Americans in the U.S.
- Brown Chapel AME Church in Selma, Alabama, whose current structure was built in 1908. It was the starting point of the Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches in 1965.
Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Chicago. (Photo by Berglund Construction)
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