Historic Black Churches in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh is known for its fascinating architecture - its bridges, sports complexes, Downtown buildings and especially its alluring religious edifices. Beyond the beautiful physical infrastructures of these places of worship are unique stories of their history, some that span for hundreds of years.

This is especially true within Pittsburgh’s Black communities. Historically, the Black church has been the anchor for the Black community; it’s where souls were spiritually fed, hopes and dreams were inspired and civil and social movements were organized. If it was of importance, it took place in the church.

Here are just a few of the churches located in the City of Pittsburgh that have made their mark, historically, in the city, and even in the country.

Bethel AME Church

Known as the first African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church west of the Allegheny Mountains and the first Black congregation in the City of Pittsburgh, Bethel A.M.E. Church’s more than 210-year history is unparalleled. According to Laurence A. Glasco in his book, The WPA History of the Negro in Pittsburgh, he writes, Bethel “was for years one of the greatest negro churches in America.” It has been described as the mother church to several A.M.E. churches that continue to serve the Greater Pittsburgh area today.

Bethel was organized in 1808 as the African Church in a house on Front Street in Downtown Pittsburgh; it later received its charter as Bethel A.M.E. Church in 1818 at the Baltimore Conference of the A.M.E. Church.

According to the church’s website, in its early years, Bethel Church worshipped in several locations — a building on Strawberry Way and then a church on Front Street in 1830, both located Downtown. It was around that time that Rev. Lewis Woodson, a pastor at Bethel, established the African School, the city’s first school for Black children, in the basement of the church. From there, the school culminated into what is most recently known as The Miller African Centered Academy, which is located on Bedford Avenue in the Hill District. Reverend Woodson, who was an abolitionist, was also heavily involved in the Underground Railroad, and it is believed that the church may have played a role in slaves finding their freedom.

Bethel’s dedication to civil rights began long before the national movement in the 1950s; in 1841, the church hosted the state’s civil rights convention, known as the Convention of the Colored Freemen of Pennsylvania. Bethel remained Downtown until 1845, when “the great fire,” as the church’s members refer to it, destroyed their church; sometime later, the church relocated to the Hill District, purchased property at Wylie Avenue and Elm Street and erected a new edifice in 1906. Bethel served the community at its Lower Hill location for approximately 50 years until the beautiful church was torn down in 1956 to make way for the city’s Urban Redevelopment Project. The former Civic Arena was built where the church once stood.

For two years, the congregation worshipped at the Seventh Day Adventist Church, in the Hill, until the completion of Bethel’s new church, located at the corner of Webster Avenue and Morgan Street. It was in July of 1959 that the new church was dedicated and the congregation marched into to the place that they have continued to call home for more than 60 years. In 1995, a historical marker was erected by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission at the corner of First Avenue and Smithfield Street Downtown. Today, “the church on the hill with the mountaintop experience,” as its slogan states, is not only known for its beautiful structure and stained-glass windows but also for its continued dedication to serving the community; just as it has been for more than 200 years.

Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church

While Bethel is the oldest A.M.E. church west of the Allegheny mountains, the second oldest is Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church, located in the North Side section of the city of Pittsburgh. The tall, yellow brick building with the beautiful sanctuary is historic in its own right. Not only has it been meeting the spiritual needs of local A.M.E.s for more than 180 years, it is believed that the church with the luxurious stained-glass windows is the oldest Black church in the city to have served the community from one location.

According to online documents, Brown Chapel was formed around 1837; organizers were said to have met in various homes, as well as a Blacksmith shop. In Glasco’s book, he references that, in 1847, the church moved to a building in the East Commons. The church is believed to have worshipped in various locations until around the 1860s when it purchased a lot on Boyle and Hemlock Streets, incorporated the church and began building their religious home.

By the early 1870s, the congregation had completed the building of the church and continued to worship at that location until Easter Sunday, in March of 1902, when a cyclone damaged it beyond repair. With their strong faith in the Lord and their determination to rebuild in the same location, a new church building was dedicated in March of 1904. Today, the church remains at the same Boyle Street location. For approximately 150 years, Brown Chapel has continued to meet the needs of the North Side community, not just spiritually, but socially as well.

In 1988, the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation (PHLF) designated the church a historic landmark. A plaque is housed near the church’s front entrance.

David Farkas, the director of Real Estate Development for PHLF, has worked with Brown Chapel through its Historic Religious Properties Grant Program, which awards matching grants for restoration and technical assistance on restoration plans, among other things. Farkas noted that the church is “an incredibly historic congregation that is serving its mission today, the same as it always has been. And the staying power of the institution, in that community and neighborhood, it can’t be overstated how important it is.”

Grace Memorial Presbyterian Church

Known as the mother church among Black Presbyterians in the City of Pittsburgh, Grace Memorial Presbyterian Church, located in the Sugar Top section of the Hill District, is the oldest Black Presbyterian church in the city and in Allegheny County. There are only two other predominately Black Presbyterian churches in the city - Bidwell and Bethesda Presbyterian Churches.

The church was organized Jan. 12, 1868, in Sixth Presbyterian Church, a predominately white Presbyterian church in the city. It began under the leadership of Rev. Henry Highland Garnet, an abolitionist and active member of the Underground Railroad.

According to Glasco, 30 Black worshippers signed a petition to the Ohio Presbytery, requesting the organization of their own church. The idea was passed, and the congregation became Grace Memorial Presbyterian Church on the Hill.

Through the years, the church has held services in various locations — Miller Street School; it purchased a church on Arthur Street; followed by a move to a church on Centre Avenue in 1940; and then its current location on Bryn Mawr Road in 1948.

It’s believed that Grace Memorial’s name, according to its website, was chosen by founding members who believed that it was God’s grace that had helped them to organize the church and that His grace is what would sustain them throughout the years. And that it has. With its more than 150-year history, Grace Memorial, a grand, multi-toned brick church that sits at the top of a hill, remains a staple in the community through its various outreach programs and ministries.

Ebenezer Baptist Church

Noted as one of the oldest Black Baptist churches in the city, Ebenezer Baptist Church, located in the Hill District, at one time also was the largest, according to Glasco. With a history that spans more than 140 years and includes many achievements, as well as some devastation, Ebenezer remains a dedicated pillar in the Black community.

In June 1875, according to the church’s history, Ebenezer was organized in the parlor of a predominately white church, Fourth Avenue Baptist Church, by Rev. R. Henry Marshall. Prior to moving to its current location on Wylie Avenue, this church, too, worshipped at several locations. Later, in 1882, under the direction of Rev. Marshall, the church purchased several lots and built a church, making it the first church building in Western Pennsylvania to be owned by Black Baptists. The congregation worshipped there until the early 1900s, when it purchased a church on Wylie Avenue from the Tenth United Presbyterian Church. The church remains at that same location today.

Deborah Parker, Ebenezer’s church administrator and a church member for 32 years, said at its height, which was during the Civil Rights Movement, the church’s congregation had reached approximately 2,100 members. She also confirmed that Ebenezer was the first Black church in the nation to have a Gospel Wagon, which is now known as a church bus, and to install an elevator in the church.

Throughout its years, many notable events have taken place — in 1932, the church hosted the National Urban League Conference; Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., visited; and in more recent years, a visit from the late Hon. John Lewis.

In 1979, the PHLF designated the church a historic landmark.

Along with the church’s many achievements, there has been some devastation. In March of 2004, a three-alarm fire broke out, destroying the entire building and claiming the lives of two firefighters, Battalion Chief Charles Brace and Master Firefighter Richard Stefanakis.

Determined to continue their service to the community, Ebenezer built a new church on the site of the previous one and, in 2006, they reopened the new church building. In a nook, near the entrance of the beautiful, multi-level church, contains a heartfelt tribute to the fallen firefighters that includes some of their personal items that were donated by their families.

Parker said the church plans to open a health and wellness clinic and a basic needs center in 2021; showing that they are just as committed today, as they have been for more than 100 years, to their mission of serving the community and God’s people.

St. Benedict the Moor

As the first Roman Catholic church in the Pittsburgh area for Black Catholics, St. Benedict the Moor, which sits across the street from Freedom Corner in the Hill District, was successfully organized more than 130 years ago on the third attempt to form a parish for Black parishioners, according to Greta Stokes Tucker, a longtime member of St. Benedict the Moor. She said the first attempt was prior to the Civil War. It was on Heldman Street, in the Hill District, on July 28, 1889, that the Diocese of Pittsburgh established St. Benedict the Moor under the leadership of Patrick McDermott, C.S.Sp., a member of the Holy Ghost Fathers at Duquesne University. It was after Fr. McDermott’s meeting with local Black Catholics and his attending the Black Catholic Lay Congress, in Washington, D.C., in January of 1889, that the cries of local Black Catholics were heard.

In its earlier years, St. Benedict merged with several other parishes — Saint Brigid, Holy Trinity and Saint Richard Churches — and in 1962, after the demolition of St. Brigid, the parish relocated to the former Holy Trinity building, which sits on the corner of Crawford Street and Centre Avenue, and is where St. Benedict the Moor serves the community today.

It was in 1968 that Bishop John J. Wright dedicated the sacred landmark of the 18-foot-tall statue of the Saint Benedict the Moor, a Black saint, which sits on the very top of the church and can be seen from miles away. Also, a couple years later, according to the church’s website, Fr. Augustus Taylor, Jr., was installed as the first Black pastor in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh and was assigned to what was then being called Saint Brigid-Saint Benedict the Moor Church. Years later, after another re-consolidation, the church was re-established as St. Benedict the Moor.

In an effort to continue meeting the needs of the community, especially its educational needs, through the church, in 1973, Hill District Catholic School was formed and later renamed to what is now known as St. Benedict the Moor School, located on Watt Street.

More recently, in July of 2020, Bishop David Zubik established St. Benedict as a personal parish for the Black Catholic community in the Diocese of Pittsburgh. While all are welcome, a personal parish is one that responds to specific spiritual needs often related to a particular culture or an extraordinary need, in this case the Black community. Tucker said, through its history, St. Benedict the Moor has a connection throughout the Hill, in one form or another, and hopes that with its new honor, it will remain a “beacon” in the Hill, as well as throughout the six counties that comprise the Diocese.

“The church is very dear to me; I’ve grown up seeing what the church does in the community. In Pittsburgh, specifically, some of the churches we work with are the backbone of the community,” said Genevieve Oduor, a PHLF board member and chair of the Historic Religious Properties Grant Program committee. “Churches have stood in the gap for the committee…I can’t imagine where we would be without the Black church.”

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Ashley J.

Author

Ashley J.

A lover of culture, travel and new experiences, Ashley Johnson is a resident of the Greater Pittsburgh area. For more than 10 years, she has worked for the New Pittsburgh Courier, one of the country’s most historic Black news publications. In her spare time, she enjoys serving the community, spending time with loved ones and taking in all the city has to offer.