LINCOLN
MEMORIAL EBENEZER BAPTIST CHURCH ATLANTA
“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” — PR ESIDEN T A BR A H A M LINCOLN GE T T YSBURG ADDRE S S, 1 863
KELLY INGRAM
PARK
Martin Luther King Jr. grew up in the pews of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where his father was pastor. King was baptized there as a baby, and his funeral was held there after his assassination in 1968. Between the bookends of King’s remarkable life, the church was the setting of some of his most significant sermons and milestones. King delivered his first sermon at the church’s pulpit in 1947, and the congregation voted to license him as a minister shortly afterward. King was ordained in February 1948. King joined his father as co-pastor at Ebenezer in November 1959 in a move to be closer to the Atlanta headquarters of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The church is part of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site, and in 2001, the National Park Service began a two-phase restoration of the 1922 brick church in the Sweet Auburn neighborhood. Work included structural repairs and updated infrastructure, but the project also restored the appearance of the Heritage Sanctuary and fellowship hall to the years when King served as co-pastor with his father, from 1960 to 1968; that work included preserving the stained-glass windows and restoring the pipe organ. The church’s modern space, the Horizon Sanctuary, was completed in 1999. The congregation welcomes visitors every Sunday both in person and online through its virtual Ebenezer Everywhere. The Heritage Sanctuary is open for tours daily. W W W.EBEN EZER ATL .ORG
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