The Savannah Church That Helped America’s First Black Baptist Congregation Survive Slavery

The First African Baptist Church, Georgia

In the heart of Savannah sits a church that holds secrets beneath its wooden floors.

The First African Baptist Church was built by enslaved people who carved out their own sacred space in 1777. They created something that would outlast slavery, segregation, and centuries of change.

Here’s the remarkable story of America’s oldest Black Baptist congregation.

The Enslaved Preacher Who Founded A Movement

George Leile couldn’t own property or vote as a slave. Born in Virginia in 1750, Leile found religion and it changed everything for him.

His owner, Henry Sharpe, was a Baptist deacon who let Leile preach to slaves on plantations along the Savannah River.

In 1773, Leile became the first Black man allowed by Baptists to preach in Georgia, planting the seeds that grew into America’s first Black Baptist church.

America’s First Missionary

When the British took Savannah in 1778, they promised freedom to those who helped them. Leile told his followers to side with the British as a result.

When British ships left Savannah in 1782, Leile had to choose. He sailed with them to Jamaica, becoming America’s first missionary abroad.

First Converts Who Formed The Church’s Foundation

Four people formed the heart of what would become a historic church.

Andrew Bryan and his wife Hannah listened to Leile preach at Brampton plantation. Two women named Kate and Hagar also became the first members while still enslaved.

With Leile gone to Jamaica, Andrew Bryan stepped up to lead the scattered believers. Officials had him beaten and thrown in jail several times just for preaching.

On January 20, 1788, all that faith paid off when a white Baptist minister named Abraham Marshall officially recognized the church.

With 67 members gathered at a barn, Bryan became their first official pastor.

Building A Church With Their Own Hands

In the 1850s, Pastor William Campbell got both free and enslaved Black people to work on a permanent building.

After work, they made bricks by hand and slowly put up the walls. When finished in 1859, it was the first brick building owned by Black people in Georgia.

The enslaved craftsmen even carved African symbols into the wooden pews, putting pieces of their heritage into their church.

Secret Symbols Of The Underground Railroad

Hidden in the church design were secret codes that helped people escape slavery.

The wooden floor has holes arranged in a pattern called a Congolese Cosmogram (they let air reach runaway slaves hiding in a four-foot space below).

The ceiling has a Nine-Patch Quilt design, another war-torn secret signal that this was a safe house on the Underground Railroad.

They kept no records of these activities to protect everyone involved.

When The Church Divided Over Doctrine

A big split tore the church apart in 1832 over questions of belief and leadership. After growing to over 2,700 members, arguments broke out that couldn’t be settled.

More than 2,600 members left to start what became First Bryan Baptist Church. Both groups claimed to be the true church that Leile started.

The argument went on until 1888, when the Georgia Baptist Convention officially named First African Baptist the rightful “banner church” of the state.

Emanuel King Love’s Educational Legacy

Pastor Emanuel King Love turned the church’s focus toward education for Black Georgians.

As the sixth pastor from 1885 to 1900, Love wrote the first complete history of the church, making sure its story wouldn’t be forgotten.

He led efforts that created Savannah State University in 1890, first called Georgia State Industrial College for Colored Youth.

He also helped start Morehouse College in Atlanta and Paine College in Augusta.

First African Baptist’s Achievements

The church broke new ground for Black Americans. The original 100-foot steeple stood tall until a hurricane knocked it down in the early 1900s.

In 1826, it started the first Sunday School for African Americans in North America, teaching people who weren’t allowed formal education.

Pastor Andrew Marshall changed the name from “First Colored Baptist” to “First African Baptist.”

Beautiful stained glass windows, added in 1885, proudly showed Black religious leaders when such recognition was unusual.

Visiting First African Baptist Church

You can step into living history at 23 Montgomery Street in Savannah. Tours run Tuesday through Saturday at 11am, 2pm, and 4pm, and Sundays at 1pm.

You’ll see the museum with church records from the 1800s, communion sets from 1814, and handmade quilts with hidden meanings.

Don’t miss the original 1832 pipe organ, the air holes in the floor that once helped hide escaped slaves, and the African carvings made by enslaved church members.

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