Houston, TX
Antioch Missionary Baptist Church
Established 1866
A source of light
The Antioch Missionary Baptist Church was built in 1866 by freed people in Houston. The church was located in the center of Freedman’s Town and was the center of activity for the African-American community. It was the first brick structure built and owned by African-Americans in Houston. Reverend Jack Yates was the first pastor. At the church, there was opportunity to worship God, but also for freed people to develop socially, economically, and educationally.
People still worship at the church today, though not in its original location. The church assisted in the success of the local Black community: it was active in promoting education for former slaves and it began the first private school for freedmen. Freedmen learned reading, writing, math, learned their own trades and started businesses in the community, and learned how to buy homes, pay taxes, vote, and raise gardens.
History
- Prior to the emancipation of slaves, only two churches in Houston were known to have allowed enslaved men and women to attend their services: the Methodist church and the Baptist church. Once freed, two white missionaries, Reverend W. C. Crane and Reverend J. B. Link, from the local First Baptist Church and German Baptist Church, would assist a handful of men and women to form their own church in the back pews.
- Reverend I. S. Campbell of the Northern Baptist Missionary Association was dispatched to these newly freed congregants in 1867 to provide spiritual guidance and training. Along the way he encountered John Henry (Jack) Yates, a former African American slave who was capable in reading the Bible, leading prayer and hymns. After being ordained by Campbell and Elder J. J. Ryanhart, Yates would become the first pastor of the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church.
- In 1882, along with Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church, members of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church purchased Emancipation Park, Houston’s first black park. It was utilized as a place for blacks to voice their civic concerns and host social gatherings, as well as a park for their children to play safely. The church began the annual Juneteenth celebration in this park, which is still held to this day. This park is still located in Houston’s Third Ward.
- In 2019, UNESCO listed Antioch Baptist Church as part of their Routes of Enslaved Peoples Project.
