The Atlanta church that shaped MLK and civil rights

Martin Luther King Jr. found his spiritual home at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where he learned from a generation of pastors before him. Joining his father as a co-pastor in 1960, King delivered many sermons on overcoming racial prejudice from the pulpit of this church. This year, attention to the church was renewed following the historic election of the Rev. Raphael Warnock, Georgia’s first Black senator.

Unfortunately, the church’s annual commemorative service for MLK Day won’t be held because of COVID-19. Even so, to appreciate the federal holiday’s importance, one needs to understand the Ebenezer Baptist Church’s tradition of activism that “formed one of America’s most influential civil rights leaders,” explains religious studies scholar Jason Oliver Evans.

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