First Baptist Church (Jacksonville, Florida)
| First Baptist Church of Jacksonville | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Location | Jacksonville, Florida |
| Country | United States |
| Denomination | Southern Baptist |
| Membership | 28,000 registered |
| Weekly attendance | 7,500 (Sunday) |
| Website | fbcjax |
| History | |
| Founded | 1838 |
| Administration | |
| Division | Florida Baptist Convention |
| Clergy | |
| Senior pastor(s) | Mac Brunson |
The First Baptist Church of Jacksonville is a large Southern Baptist church in Downtown Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. As of 2011, First Baptist Church has 28,000 members and an average attendance of around 7,500 for Sunday services, making it the third largest church in the Southern Baptist Convention. The main Downtown Campus comprises nine square blocks of property connected by above-ground crosswalks. The campus includes several auditoriums for services, a Sunday school building, and facilities for First Baptist Academy, a private K-8 school.
First Baptist Church has its origins in the oldest Baptist congregation in Jacksonville, Bethel Baptist Church, established in 1838. The church experienced a period of considerable growth in the mid-20th century, and now encompasses eleven square blocks of downtown Jacksonville. Several former pastors, including Homer G. Lindsay, Jr. and Jerry Vines, were widely influential in the Southern Baptist Convention, leading it in both growth and a shift towards conservatism.
First Baptist Church traces its origins to Bethel Baptist Church (now Bethel Baptist Institutional Church), the earliest Baptist church to be founded in Jacksonville. Bethel Baptist was established under co-pastors James McDonald and Ryan Frier in July 1838 with only six charter members, four whites and two blacks, the latter of whom were slaves of white members.. Membership quickly grew, with most early congregants being black slaves who received day passes from their masters to attend. The first meetings were held at "Mother Sam's", a local plantation, and in 1861 a permanent meeting hall was erected in Downtown Jacksonville at Church and Julia Streets. The Bethel Baptist Church remained interracial until after the American Civil War, at which point the decision was made to segregate the congregation by race. White members attempted to force out the blacks, and took their case to court. However, the court found in favor of the blacks, who were in the majority, determining that they were the rightful owners of the Bethel Baptist name and property. As a result the whites left the congregation, forming Tabernacle Baptist Church, which was eventually renamed First Baptist Church. Bethel Baptist Institutional Church now numbers its congregation at approximately 10,000 members.
...
Wikipedia