A Historic Church In Images Of America Many small places in America have a local, national, and sometimes international significance. Among these places is the Ebenezer Baptist Church of Atlanta, Georgia, known because of the work of its most famous pastor, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King served as co-pastor at Ebenezer from 1960, when he had already become a famous civil rights leader, until his death in April, 1968. In addition to Ebenezer's and King's role in the Civil Rights Movement, the church has a long history of providing a spiritual home to many people in Atlanta's African American community. The local, pastoral history of Ebenezer and it broader role are both shown in this photographic local history, "Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church" (2009) by educator and longtime church member, Benjamin C. Ridgeway. The book, which consists of photographs drawn primarily from the church's archives together with Ridgeway's commentary is part of the Images of America series of local American photographic histories.

The book begins with the founding of the church in 1886 and with the work of its two first pastors, the Reverend John Parker and the Reverend Adam Daniel Williams, as Ebenezer struggled and grew in the early years of the 20th Century. Ebenezer occupied three prior sites before moving into its famous home in 1922. The King family receives a great deal of attention. Martin Luther King, Sr. married the daughter of Reverend Williams, and he served as pastor at Ebenezer from 1933 -- 1974. Martin Luther King Jr. served from 1960 until his 1968 assassination. King's younger son, the Reverend Alfred Daniel Williams King, Sr. served as pastor from 1968 until his untimely death in 1969. Martin Luther King Sr's wife, Alberta King, was shot and killed in the church in 1974 while playing the organ. The history of the King family cannot be separated from the history of Ebenezer Baptist Church. The National Park Service now administers the historic church sanctuary as part of the Martin Luther King Historic District in Atlanta while the church itself built and moved into a new building across the street from its former home. This move is documented well in photographs and text in this book.

Much of this photographic history shows the local workings of a large middle-class southern African American church. The book shows church organizations such as the choirs, Deacons, ushers, and youth leaders, committees, and outreach workers and shows how these roles developed over time. The book features many photographs of lay people active and committed to the mission of the church. The book documents the musical life of the church through song and choirs, handbells, and organs. Ridgeway present many photographs of church activities and of programs which commemorated, for example, the installation and anniversaries of the pastors, musical events. men's and women's days, social activities on behalf of the poor, and the deaths of its pastors and of Mrs. King. Much of the book shows the church and its congregants as participants in a life of faith and in a faith community at least equally to a congregation whose pastor was a leader in activism and in Civil Rights. The final pages of the book show how Ebenezer Baptist Church has continued its mission into the Twenty-First Century in its new church home and under its new pastors.

I enjoyed visiting this historic church with its famous pastors through this book. I was inspired even more by seeing the local, community spirit of the church and the contribution it has made for over a century to its members in their search for faith and for spiritual growth.