Our Church History

Through faith and conviction Harry Martin and Daniel Merriweather organized a Sunday School for Blacks on this side of the Cumberland River in 1865, while the wounds of the Civil War were still healing. Around 1870 the church was formally established as the First Baptist Church, with Rev. A.J. Stokes as its first pastor. Rev. Stokes served as pastor until 1888.

The church held its first meetings in a small brick building at 4th and Main Street. Later Mr. and Mrs. Silas Stewart were so impressed by what they witnesses that they donated a plot of land, next to the little red brick building, for the purpose of constructing a more suitable church edifice. However, in 1886 a group of disenchanted members withdrew to establish another Baptist church further up Main Street. A more fitting structure was erected in 1888. Over the course of time, three buildings were constructed on that site.

Around 1911, the church was forced to take a new name Fifth Ward Baptist Church, as a result of an obscure legal technicality. In 1914, the church edifice was declared unsafe. Another structure was erected, however, later it too was condemned.

In the early forties another splinter group withdrew and organized a new congregation. In the face of these events and the condemnation of its sanctuary on 4th and Main Streets the church was forced to hold services in a number of different locations for several years to include the Roberts, Ivey, and Vance Funeral Chapel, the Masonic Hall and the former Cobb Elementary School. In 1944, the congregation moved to its former site and began holding services. In 1951, the church began to expand and added a larger sanctuary under the guidance of then pastor Rev. C.A. Snoddy.

In 1994, God blessed Fifth Ward with the quiet, yet dynamic leadership of Rev. Charles W. Radford. Under his focused, Christ-centered, Bible-based approach, God re-ignited the church. God pruned outdated, dormant ministries away, and new ministries were established. The Sunday School, which was virtually non-existent, became the core of the church's discipleship and service. In late summer 2001, construction began on an all-new, custom-designed, multi-functional house of worship and service. That edifice and its furnishings was completed and dedicated May 5th 2002, months ahead of schedule with virtually no cost overruns by the grace of God and through his divine leadership.
The church has weathered many challenges throughout its history, both from without and within. Yet, through it all, we are striving to be a church,

                                        "Where the Glory of God Abides".