$4 Million Awarded to Help Protect 31 Historic Black Churches in U.S.

By Jessica Pumphrey

National (TN Tribune)-National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund is awarding $4 million in its second round of Preserving Black Churches grants to 31 historic Black churches across the U.S.

Notably, two of the churches selected for grants are located in Tennessee. Henderson Chapel AME Zion Church in Rutledge, built in 1890, served as a center of cultural activity throughout the Jim Crow era and will now receive support for an architectural assessment and comprehensive preservation plan. Additionally, The House of God Church Inc. in Nashville, founded in 1903, will use grant funding to establish a Preservation Manager staff position, enhancing the church’s historic preservation activities and developing a five-year strategic plan.

With over $95 million in funding, the Action Fund is the largest U.S. resource dedicated to preserving historic African American places. Since launching Preserving Black Churches in 2022, the Action Fund has provided $8.7 million in grants to over 70 historic churches.

Black churches stand as timeless bastions of faith, resilience, and achievement in communities across America. These sacred spaces have been the birthplace of movements, the planning grounds for change, and a refuge for those seeking solace.

“We created the Preserving Black Churches program to ensure the historic Black church’s legacy is told and secured. That these cultural assets can continue to foster community resilience and drive meaningful change in our society,” said Brent Leggs, Executive Director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. “We couldn’t be more excited to honor our second round of grantees and ensure that African Americans – and our entire nation – can enjoy an empowered future built on the inspiring foundations of our past.”

Preserving Black Churches is a $20 Million Action Fund program that equips historic Black churches and their congregations with the critical resources and technical preservation expertise to protect the historic assets and legacies they steward. With this round’s grants ranging from $50,000 to $200,000, the Preserving Black Churches program helps congregations solve urgent and ongoing preservation threats such as deferred maintenance, insufficient funding, demolition, water filtration, and mold contamination.

“Black churches have been at the forefront of meaningful democratic reform since this nation’s founding. They’re a living testament to the resilience of our ancestors in the face of unimaginably daunting challenges,” said Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., historian and advisor to the Action Fund. “The heart of our spiritual world is the Black church. These places of worship, these sacred cultural centers, must exist for future generations to understand who we were as a people.”

With leadership support from Lilly Endowment Inc., the Action Fund advances strategies that model and strengthen historic Black churches’ stewardship and asset management, interpretation, and fundraising activities across the country.

2024 PRESERVING BLACK CHURCHES GRANT ANNOUNCEMENT

Full List of Grantees and Descriptions

PLANNING GRANTS (8)

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Grant Category: Planning Grants
Grantee: Appleton Episcopal Ministries | Fort Valley, Georgia

Constructed between 1939 and 1940, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church was designed by architect Stanislaw J. Makielski, the exclusive architect for the American Church Institution for Negros. The institution is tied to the broader Episcopal Church’s efforts to develop educational facilities for African Americans in the rural South. Funding will enable the church to analyze three connecting structures to address water infiltration, ADA accessibility, asbestos and lead hazards, and building systems as they prioritize future projects.

Mount Carmel Missionary Baptist Church
Grant Category: Planning Grants
Grantee: Mount Carmel Missionary Baptist Church | Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Constructed between 1973 and 1974, Mount Carmel Missionary Baptist Church was designed by Alonzo Robinson Jr., Wisconsin’s first registered African American architect. The church represents an excellent example of contextual Modernism, illustrating the Modernist trends of simplification and truth in expression while fitting into its residential surroundings. Funding will support an assessment of the church’s history, physical condition, and building systems to provide detailed guidance and recommendations for future projects.

Moore’s Chapel AME Zion Church
Grant Category: Planning Grants
Grantee: Moore’s Chapel AME Zion Church | Cleveland, Arkansas

Constructed in 1890, Moore’s Chapel AME Zion Church was built by Black people in the community seeking a place of worship and a center for community activity and life. The building is not currently in use due to extensive structural damage. Funding will allow the church to obtain architectural survey and planning consultants, begin cemetery conservation, and develop a viable business plan for preserving the main building and cemetery.

Calvin Memorial Presbyterian Church
Grant Category: Planning Grants
Grantee: POC Collaborative Community Center | Omaha, Nebraska

Constructed in 1910, this Neoclassical Revival style building was originally celebrated as an integrated church but became an all-Black congregation as redlining policies reinforced hysteria around racial integration in the mid-20th century. The building is not currently habitable due to structural damage. Funding will support a preservation feasibility study, including a building inspection and assessment report, and allow the church to engage an architect to determine the next steps for structural rehabilitation and preservation.

St. Peter’s United Methodist Church
Grant Category: Planning Grants
Grantee: St. Peter’s United Methodist Church | Oxford, North Carolina

Constructed in 1951, St. Peter’s United Methodist Church is located a block from the major throughway for Black businesses in the region and served as a space for political rallies and meetings. Oxford’s first Black nursery school also operated in the building in the mid to late 1950s. Funding will support a preservation-based assessment of the church and a preservation plan to guide repair and restoration work.

Henderson Chapel AME Zion Church
Grant Category: Planning Grants
Grantee: Clinch-Powell RC&D Council | Rutledge, Tennessee

Henderson Chapel AME Zion Church was constructed in 1890, and its front gable represents the prevailing architectural style of rural churches built between 1870 and 1950. The church served as a center of cultural activity throughout the Jim Crow era as the site of lectures, community picnics, and other social activities. The building is not currently in use due to structural issues. Funding will support an architectural assessment and comprehensive preservation plan to restore the chapel so it can serve as a place of worship, community event space, and historic tourist attraction.

Ward Chapel AME Church
Grant Category: Planning Grants
Grantee: The Cairo Historical Preservation Project, Inc. | Cairo, Illinois

Originally built in 1907 (and rebuilt following a fire in 1918), Ward Chapel AME Church has hosted notable social justice activists throughout its history, including a young John Lewis, who conducted non-violent protest training in the basement, and Rev. Jesse Jackson, who held rallies to bolster community support for economic boycotts demanding equal opportunity. Funding will support the development of a master plan laying out the steps required to move forward with the adaptive reuse and sustainability of the structure.

Taveau Church
Grant Category: Planning Grants
Grantee: Preservation South Carolina | Cordesville, South Carolina

Constructed in 1835, Taveau Church is a rare surviving rural, wood-frame antebellum structure, with its exterior marked by a modest cornice and a simple Doric-columned portico. Before its closure in 1974, the church stood as a sentinel to the trials and accomplishments of its congregants and to the activities within its walls that shaped the character of its people and community through the Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and Civil Rights eras. Funding will support a plan to restore the building’s structural integrity and engage the community and congregation in long-term sustainability efforts.

ENDOWMENT & FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY (1)

Town Clock Church
Grant Category: Endowment & Financial Sustainability
Grantee: Friends of the Town Clock Church | New Albany, Indiana

Built in 1852, Second Presbyterian Church (now Second Baptist Church) helped enslaved people escape to freedom as a stop on the Underground Railroad. Oral histories claim that the structure’s basement hid fugitives and an adjoining tunnel led from the north side of the building to what was once a hotel across the street. The grant will support endowment growth for the perpetual funding of cyclical maintenance for the historic Town Clock Church to ensure that the 2014 restoration and preservation efforts are sustained in the future.

PROGRAMMING & INTERPRETATION (3)

Mt. Zion AME Church
Grant Category: Programming & Interpretation
Grantee: Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum | Skillman, New Jersey

As an African American-led organization housed in the restored Mt. Zion AME Church, the Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum (SSAAM), built in 1899, shares the important story of survival of Black faith, food, freedom, culture, creativity, and joy. SSAAM features permanent and rotating exhibits, and creates programs associated with local and national Black history. Funding will support reenactments and educational and musical programming to engage the community around faith, culture, and activism.

Guidance Church of Religious Science
Grant Category: Programming & Interpretation
Grantee: Guidance Church of Religious Science | Los Angeles, California

Constructed in 1960, the Guidance Church of Religious Science was the first Black Religious Science congregation in Los Angeles. The church building continues to symbolize Black empowerment, community stability, radical welcome, and spiritual empowerment. Funding will support the commission of several interpretive outdoor murals recognizing Black spirituality and migration in Los Angeles and nationwide.

Yardley’s AME Church
Grant Category: Programming & Interpretation
Grantee: Gather Place – Generational Voices Project | Yardley, Pennsylvania

Constructed in 1877, the Yardley AME Church has been a place of worship and a pillar of support, forging a sense of belonging and religious expression for the borough’s African American community. Funding will enable a project to leverage oral history interviews connected to this vital historical landmark to safeguard this church’s crucial history, cultural heritage, and legacy and counter concerns about cultural displacement.

ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY (1)

The House of God Church
Grant Category: Organizational Capacity
Grantee: The House of God Church Inc. | Nashville, Tennessee

The House of God Church is the oldest holiness movement in America and was founded in 1903. Grant funding will support the new Preservation Manager staff position to guide the church’s historic preservation activities, build stewardship capacity, and develop a five-year strategic plan to inform strategies for conserving nearly 80 historic congregations, each with 50+ years of building use.

CAPITAL PROJECTS (18)

Shiloh Baptist Church
Grant Category: Capital Projects
Grantee: Shiloh Baptist Church | Cleveland, Ohio

As Cleveland’s oldest Black Baptist Church, Shiloh has been central to the history and identity of the Black Community and served as a beacon of hope from the Antebellum era to the present day. Funding will support the repair and restoration of the historic church’s stained-glass dome ceiling to eliminate deflecting glass, maintain architectural integrity, and ensure the safety of congregants.

Big Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church
Grant Category: Capital Projects
Grantee: Big Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church | Atlanta, Georgia

The oldest predominantly African American congregation in the Atlanta metropolitan area, Big Bethel AME Church was founded in 1847 and is the birthplace of Morris Brown College—the first educational institution in Georgia to be owned and operated entirely by African Americans. The church hosted the first National Convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1920. The capital project will address time-critical structural repairs and safety concerns due to severe interior and exterior water damage.

Union Bethel AME Church
Grant Category: Capital Projects
Grantee: Union Bethel AME Church | Great Falls, Montana

At the center of the African American community in Central Montana for more than a century, the Union Bethel AME Church congregation began holding regular services in 1890 and built its current church building in 1917. Grant funding will support the repair of all existing mortar joints in the brick facade of the church and address significant weather-related deterioration.

First Zion Baptist Church
Grant Category: Capital Projects
Grantee: Harpers Ferry-Bolivar Historic Town Foundation | Harpers Ferry, West Virginia

In 1894, the First Zion Baptist Church was constructed in a predominantly African American neighborhood in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. A central meeting place for the local Black community that developed alongside Storer College, one of the nation’s earliest Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), the church has been closed and inactive since 1991. The Harpers Ferry-Bolivar Historic Town Foundation purchased the property in 2017 to repurpose it as a landmark arts and cultural center. Funding will restore the building envelope and generate needed momentum toward full rehabilitation.

Antioch Missionary Baptist Church
Grant Category: Capital Projects
Grantee: Antioch Missionary Baptist Church | Houston, Texas

Founded in 1866 by nine formerly enslaved men and women—just seven months after Juneteenth—Antioch Missionary Baptist Church is the oldest Black Baptist Church in Houston, Texas. It is a living testimony to the once rich and vibrant Fourth Ward Black community erased by urban development in the mid-twentieth century. Funding will support the restoration of the church’s historic stained-glass windows, gothic frames, and sills, which were significantly weather damaged during Hurricane Ike in 2008.

Central United Methodist Church
Grant Category: Capital Projects
Grantee: Central United Methodist Church | Jackson, Mississippi

Founded in 1890 as a part of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Central United Methodist Church has been a beacon of hope at the forefront of religious, social, and civic movements in the Historic Farish Street District of Jackson, Mississippi. The church was constructed in 1966 by Joseph Collins, a Black contractor and member of the congregation. Funding will advance the full restoration and repair of the roof and exterior beams to sustain the building’s integrity and longevity.

Washington Chapel CME Church
Grant Category: Capital Projects
Grantee: Washington Chapel | Parkville, Missouri

Initially constructed in 1907 by formerly enslaved citizens and college students, Washington Chapel C.M.E. Church served as a “beacon on a hill” for the African American community in Parkville, Missouri, for over a century. A central gathering place for political meetings, community events, and worship services, the convening of Washington Chapel’s congregation dates to 1870, nearly forty years before the existing church building was constructed. The building is not currently habitable due to roof and structural damage, however, grant funding will support vital roof repairs and enable restoration of the church for religious services and other Parkville community events.

Beulah Missionary Baptist Church
Grant Category: Capital Projects
Grantee: Beulah Missionary Baptist Church | Natchez, Mississippi

Founded in 1896 by William Rochester, a U.S. Colored Troops veteran and commander-in-chief of the Mississippi and Louisiana Department of the Grand Army of the Republic, Beulah Missionary Baptist Church’s congregation played a pivotal role in organizing for civil rights in the Natchez community, hosting numerous meetings and rallies. Grant funding will aid in the steeple and window restoration for the 111-year-old structure.

Jacob’s Chapel AME Church
Grant Category: Capital Projects
Grantee: Jacobs Chapel AME Church | Mount Laurel, New Jersey

Jacob’s Chapel AME Church and the Colemantown Meeting House are the last remaining buildings from the African American enclave of Colemantown, established in 1828. Along with the Colemantown Meeting House, Jacobs Chapel Church was a known stop on the Underground Railroad, serving as the first worship sanctuary in Colemantown and a schoolhouse for the neighborhood’s Black students. Grant funding will restore the roof, HVAC, and windows.

St. Augustine Catholic Church
Grant Category: Capital Projects
Grantee: St. Augustine Catholic Church | New Orleans, Louisiana

St. Augustine Catholic Church is a cornerstone of Black Catholicism in New Orleans, with a long history as the site of the first Catholic religious congregation created for and by African American women, Sisters of the Presentation, and Sisters of the Holy Family. Funding will support the rehabilitation of exterior masonry and interior plaster repairs.

St. James AME Church
Grant Category: Capital Projects
Grantee: St. James AME Church | | New Orleans, Louisiana

Historic St. James Church, founded by a group of freedmen, is the oldest Black Protestant church in New Orleans. The church was the headquarters for the Louisiana Native Guards – Black Union soldiers during the Civil War – and was a staging site for marches during the Civil Rights movement. Funding will allow the church to make roof repairs that will stop 18 years of water intrusion in the upper sanctuary balcony and restore the church’s historic facade.

Historic St. Paul AME Church
Grant Category: Capital Projects
Grantee: St. Paul AME Church | Lexington, Kentucky

St. Paul AME Church opened its doors in 1826 as a place of worship and refuge. According to oral histories, the church also served as a sanctuary where enslaved people could hide while escaping bondage. The site is a rare example of Underground Railroad history. The grant will support the church’s building restoration project and efforts to interpret this national story.

Thomas Memorial AME Zion Church
Grant Category: Capital Projects
Grantee: Preservation in Color | Watertown, New York

Constructed in 1909, Thomas Memorial AME Zion Church was the place of worship for a predominantly Black congregation and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The church needs structural repairs as the roof infrastructure is failing and suffering water damage, making the church nearly uninhabitable. Grant funding will initiate the building’s structural stabilization.

Mother Bethel AME Church
Grant Category: Capital Projects
Grantee: Mother Bethel AME Church | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

In 1794, formerly enslaved person Richard Allen – a minister, educator, and national leader – founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), the first Black denomination in the United States. Bishop Allen opened his first church that year, Mother Bethel AME Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The current building was dedicated in 1890 and was designed by Hazlehurst and Huckel in the 19th-century Romanesque Revival style. It features a three-story limestone entrance and a four-story tower, with its beauty amplified by intricate stained-glass windows. Grant funding will support the exterior rehabilitation of the deteriorated window surfaces and ensure the preservation of its historical and architectural grandeur.

Tabernacle Baptist Church
Grant Category: Capital Projects
Grantee: Tabernacle Baptist Church | Selma, Alabama

Constructed in 1922, Tabernacle Baptist Church, known for its Classical Revival architecture, has four identical quadrantes connected by an open dome and clerestory that brings continuous brilliance to the sanctuary’s interior, reflecting Jesus Christ as The Light of the World. Grant funding will allow the church to replace its deteriorated lead-coated copper dome roof, damaged by severe weather and a January 2023 tornado.

First Missionary Baptist Church
Grant Category: Capital Projects
Grantee: First Missionary Baptist Church | Thomasville, Georgia

Originally constructed by formerly enslaved congregants between 1890 and 1900, First Missionary Baptist Church is a modest Queen Ann-style building with decorative features such as a metal roof and abundant windows. Many political, cultural, and intellectual luminaries, including Jesse Jackson and Shirley Chisolm, have visited the church. Funding will help the church repair its roof and eaves, which have both sustained severe damage.

Campbell AME Church
Grant Category: Capital Projects
Grantee: Campbell AME Church | Washington, D.C.

In 1938, Campbell AME Church was built by Black Washingtonians and served as a base for organizing the Civil Rights movement. The stained glass windows convey rich theological meaning with their portrayal of the life of Jesus Christ on one side, the passion of Jesus Christ on the other, and the resurrection above the pulpit. Grant funding will allow the church to restore the existing structure.

St. Paul Methodist Episcopal Church
Grant Category: Capital Projects
Grantee: St. Paul AME Church | Augusta, Kentucky

Originally built by a freed Black man and brick mason, John Pattie, the original St. Paul Methodist Episcopal Church building was completed in 1894. The structure was saved in 1976 when a local couple was informed that a different buyer would demolish the building unless they purchased it. Since then, the building has remained vacant and is awaiting restoration. Grant funding will support the church’s rehabilitation and allow it to be converted into a new Emancipation Heritage Center.

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The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, is deeply committed to preserving and protecting places that illuminate the story of African American activism, achievement, and resilience. In partnership with the Ford, Mellon, JPB, and Lilly Endowment foundations, totalling more than $90 million in funding, the Action Fund stands as the largest U.S. resource dedicated to the preservation of African American historic places.

To learn more about our mission to tell the full American story, visit us www.savingplaces.org/actionfund.