The Nineteenth Street Baptist Church, located on 16th Street, NW, is considered to be the first and oldest, independent black Baptist congregation in Washington, D.C. Since its founding in 1839, the church has figured prominently within the historical and social fabric of Washington, D.C.'s African American community.Moore, Jacqueline (1999)Leading the race: The transformation of the black elite in the nations capital 1880-1920, University Press of Virginia
History
Established as the First Colored Baptist Church of Washington, D.C., on August 29, 1839, the congregation finds its earliest beginnings within The First Baptist Church of the City of Washington, D.C., which was founded on March 7, 1802.Fitzpatrick, Sandra & Goodwin, Maria (1993)The Guide to Black Washington, Hippocrene Books, Inc. Described initially as an interracial congregation, black members worshipped alongside whites. However, similar to other congregations of the time, the church gradually began to segregate its black members from white parishioners. Given their discontent with being assigned to the gallery of what was now the new location of the First Baptist Church, in 1833 a majority of the black members chose to return to the original site located at 19th and I Streets, N.W. The black members of the First Baptist Church continued to worship under the authority of the parent church at the 19th and I Streets location until 1839 when they expressed interest in being organized as a separate body. Reverend Sampson White, who was also instrumental in the establishment of the Concord Baptist Church of Christ, Abyssinian Baptist Church both in New York City, Kaighn Avenue Baptist Church in Camden, New Jersey, and Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia, would play an integral role in the founding of the independent congregation.
Sampson White, who had begun to organize a smaller group of black worshipers not from the First Baptist Church, secured recognition from leading white and black Baptists of Baltimore to establish a church. The original members of White's group included his wife, William Bush, Eliza Bush, Lavinia Perry and Emily Coke. With recognition secured, Sampson White's small group received into their body all of the black members of the First Baptist Church currently worshipping at the 19th and I Streets location. With the addition of these members, the membership swelled to a number ten times the size of White's original group. With the new members being in possession of the property at 19th and I Streets—an assertion that would be challenged for some years—the First Colored Baptist Church of Washington, D.C., was established in 1839 with Sampson White serving as its first pastor.
The congregation eventually purchased the property on the southwest corner of 19th and I Streets, N.W. Soon after its founding, the church was admitted to the Philadelphia Baptist Association in October 1840. From 1839 to 1882, the church experienced rapid development including the organization of a Board of Deacons, a Board of Trustees, the Missionary Society, the Christian Mite Society, the Senior Choir, the Sunday School and the formulation of the church's Rules of Decorum.Dozier, Lois (2009) A history worth repeating: One hundred and seventieth anniversary of Nineteenth Street Baptist Church In 1867, the American Baptist Home Mission Society used the basement of the church to offer courses to freedmen interested in entering the Baptist ministry. The program would eventually become the Wayland Seminary.Logan, Rayford (1968) Howard University: The first hundred years 1867-1967, New York University Press, On November 16, 1870, the church received its charter and was incorporated as the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church. A new edifice would be erected in 1871 and serve as the worship site for over a century.
On January 26, 1975, the church moved to the former Bnai Israel Jewish synagogue at its current location on 16th Street.
Leadership
The Nineteenth Street Baptist Church's history includes fourteen pastors since its inception in 1839; however, the church's sustained leadership, which has included only five pastors over the last 140 years, has contributed to its growth and noteworthiness among African American communities.
Walter Henderson Brooks
On November 12, 1882, Reverend Dr. Walter Henderson Brooks—then referred to as the Dean of ministers of Washington, D.C.—was installed as the pastor of Nineteenth Street Baptist Church. Under Brooks' pastorate, which spanned over sixty years, the church membership grew to over 3,500 and attracted leaders of the African American community. The church became one of the nation's leading Baptist congregations and wielded considerable influence.
Walter Henderson Brooks had already established a reputation as an advocate for education, racial equality, and temperance. Born a slave in Richmond, Virginia, to Albert Royal Brooks and Lucy Goode Brooks, Brooks graduated from Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) where he studied with fellow contemporaries, Archibald and Francis Grimke'. Brooks' wife, Evalin "Eva" Holmes Brooks, was the daughter of Reverend James Henry Holmes who served as pastor of the renowned First African Baptist Church of Richmond, Virginia.Collier-Thomas, Bettye (2010) Jesus, jobs, and justice: African-American women and religion, Alfred A. Knopf Brooks advocated for the inclusion of liberal arts courses within the curricula of black Baptist colleges, like those found at Howard and Fisk universities.Higginbotham, Evelyn Brooks (1993) Righteous discontent: The women's movement in the black Baptist church 1880-1920, Harvard University Press Brooks was among the black ministers and churchwomen who called for the inclusion of writings by black theologians within the American Baptist Publication Society's literature. In addition to influencing the establishment of both the National Baptist Publishing Board and the National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., Walter Henderson Brooks also served as vice-president of the Bethel Literary and Historical Society under John W. Cromwell and was a member of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. He also received honorary Doctorates of Divinity from Howard University, Roger Williams University in Nashville, Tennessee, and the State University in Louisville, Kentucky.
During Brooks' tenure, the church played host to prominent historical events including the First Annual Convention of the National Federation of Afro-American Women during which the National Association of Colored Women was founded on July 21, 1896. In 1915, black Civil War veterans of the Union Army met at the church to both commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the war's end and organize a “colored citizens’ committee” to build a monument to honor black achievement. The meeting would be credited with serving as the catalyst for the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture. The church's membership included Brooks' daughter, Julia Evangeline Brooks who served as assistant principal and dean of girls at Washington's famed Paul Laurence Dunbar High School. She was also one of the incorporators of the nation's first black sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. Noted Washington, D.C., clubwoman, educator, and suffragist, Nannie Helen Burroughs, as well as founder of the Manassas Industrial School for Colored Youth, Jennie Serepta Dean were both members during this time. Charles R. Drew, renowned physician, surgeon, and medical researcher who was recognized as the authority on the preparation and preservation of blood plasma, also attended the church under Brooks' pastorate. Nineteenth Street Baptist also counted prominent black families in the district among its membership. These family names included Syphax, Parker and Pierre.Gatewood, Willard (1990) Aristocrats of color: The black elite 1880-1920 Indiana University Press William P. Pierre, Albert Parker, and William Syphax, who was the first president of the board of trustees of the colored schools of Washington and Georgetown, all served as deacons during Brooks' pastorate. Brooks' leadership and social advocacy ushered Nineteenth Street Baptist Church into an era of prominence and activism among African American elites that continued well after his death in 1945.
Jerry A. Moore Jr.
In 1946, after the death of Walter Henderson Brooks, Reverend Dr. Jerry A. Moore Jr. became the pastor of Nineteenth Street Baptist Church. Moore, who had previously served as Brooks' pastoral assistant and student at Howard University's School of Divinity, received a B.A. from Morehouse College in 1940 and B.S. degree from Howard University. He later received an M.A. in 1957 from Howard University. Like his predecessor, Jerry A. Moore Jr. was active within the life of the Washington, D.C., community. From 1974 to 1984, Moore served as a member-at-large on Washington, D.C.'s City Council. He also co-founded the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO) in 1971. Jerry A. Moore Jr. was also nominated to be the United States Ambassador to Lesotho. Moore's wife, the late Dr. Ettyce Hill Moore, served as a teacher, principal and executive administrator within the District of Columbia Public Schools system. She was also a professor at both Trinity College and Howard University.
Under Jerry A. Moore Jr. Nineteenth Street Baptist Church grew to include several programs and services including the Weekly Bulletin (1945), The Church News (1962–1966), and The Epistle (since 1977). He also created youth focused programs such as the Youth Church, Camp Mo-Tyce, vacation Bible School and scholarship and awards programs to encourage youth attendance. He also oversaw the establishment of Noonday Lenten Services which initially focused on federal workers but now draws a number of older adults. With the development of youth focused programs and expanding the outreach efforts of the church through the Radio-ministry, the Food Pantry and Homeless ministries, Moore's tenure focused on maintaining and strengthening the vitality of the church.
During this time, many of Nineteenth Street Baptist's parishioners had left the inner city neighborhood where the church had been located for 135 years. The church purchased the B'nai Israel Jewish Synagogue located along Washington, D.C.'s Gold Coast and on January 26, 1975, Jerry A. Moore Jr. led the church in its move from 19th and I Streets to its present location at 4606 16th Street, Northwest. Moore served as pastor of Nineteenth Street Baptist Church for over 50 years, retiring in 1996 and serving as interim pastor until 1997. Dr. Moore died on December 19, 2017.
Derrick Harkins
On July 25, 1997, the church elected Reverend Dr. Derrick Harkins as Pastor-Elect. He preached his first sermon at Nineteenth Street Baptist Church on August 31, 1997. Harkins, who received his B.S. from Boston University, a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary of New York, and a Doctorate from United Seminary, was the senior pastor at New Hope Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, and had served as assistant minister at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York. He is married to Juli Anne Davis Harkins.