Harlem Civil Rights Virtual Tour

20. Convent Avenue Baptist Church

New York, NY

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In 1942 the “Kingdom Builders” proudly walked into the former Washington Heights Baptist Church, a neo-Gothic building faced in blocks of Georgia marble that was designed by Lamb & Rich, 1897–99, and named it Convent Avenue Baptist Church. Before moving into their new church, they were holding services in the former Congress Casino and the old Baptist Temple in Harlem. Under the leadership of Dr. John W. Saunders (1942 – 1961), the church continued to flourish and purchased three additional townhouses around the church. Rev. Mannie L. Wilson (1961 – 1982) led the congregation after Dr. Saunders’ passing and continued to be a leading force within the Harlem community, as well as establishing missions in Liberia, Nigeria, and Guyana, where a chapel is named in his honor. Rev. Wilson was also the first African-American Protestant to preach in St. Patrick’s Cathedral and the White House. He was also the first African-American to serve as president of the American Baptist Churches USA. Under Rev. Wilson, the church has continued to purchase buildings, including 425 W. 144th Street, a large six-story structure that now serves as the John W. Saunders Education Building and is connected to the church by a walkway. Both the Hamilton Grange Senior Citizens Center and the Boys and Girls Club of Harlem are housed in the building. The church is developing a center for the club, as well as affordable housing in a nearby vacant school on 145th Street that it purchased in 1980 under the leadership of the late Rev. Clarence P. Grant (1982 – 2005). Convent is home to the world-renowned Harlem Opera Theater and provides administrative space to the Baptist Ministers Conference of Greater New York and Vicinity. The church was Dr. King’s last appearance in New York on March 26, 1968, nine days before he was assassinated. He was there to get support for his nationwide Poor Peoples Campaign. Each year in January, Convent holds its prestigious Martin Luther King, Jr., services. Dr. Jesse T. Williams, Jr. took the helm of the church in 2007 and has been steering the congregation through good and bad times, continuing the long tradition of being forward-thinking as a spiritual and community leader.