First Baptist Church (Durham, North Carolina)
{{short description|Baptist church in Durham, North Carolina}}
{{Infobox religious building
| building_name = First Baptist Church
| image = First Baptist Church, Durham, NC (49160861208).jpg
| image_size = 250px
| caption = First Baptist Church in 2019
| location = 414 Cleveland Street
Durham, North Carolina,
United States
| coordinates = {{Coord|35|59|49|N|78|53|49|W|type:landmark_region:US-NC|display=inline,title}}
| religious_affiliation = Southern Baptist
| sector =
| district =
| consecration_year =
| functional_status = Active
| heritage_designation =
| leadership = Rev. Andy Davis
| website = [https://fbcdurham.org/ fbcdurham.org]
| architecture_type = Neoclassical Revival
| architect = Reuben H. Hunt
| groundbreaking =
| year_completed = 1927
}}
First Baptist Church, also known as FBC Durham, is a historic Southern Baptist church in Durham, North Carolina. The congregation, formed in 1845, was the first established church in Durham.
History
First Baptist Church was founded in 1845 as the Rose of Sharon Baptist Church, the first church in Durham, North Carolina.{{Cite web|url=https://www.opendurham.org/buildings/first-baptist-church-1878-1927|title=First Baptist Church (1878-1927) | Open Durham|website=www.opendurham.org}} They held services at Piney Grove schoolhouse located one mile south of West Durham.
The congregation moved to Pettigrew Street in 1850. In 1876, Dr. Columbus Durham was appointed as the full-time pastor and the church changed its name to Durham Baptist, as another congregation in northern Durham had taken the name Rose of Sharon. In 1878, the church purchased a lot on Mangum Street in Durham's downtown and began constructing a new building. Following the establishment of Blackwell Baptist Church on West Chapel Hill Street in the 1880s, the Durham Baptist congregation was renamed First Baptist Church.
In 1927, First Baptist built a new, larger building on Cleveland Street, which is the current church building. The new Neoclassical building was designed by the architect Reuben H. Hunt.{{Cite web |title=Hunt, Reuben H. (1862-1938) |url=https://ncarchitects.lib.ncsu.edu/people/P000088.html |access-date=2022-08-12 |website=ncarchitects.lib.ncsu.edu}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.opendurham.org/buildings/first-baptist-church-1927|title=First Baptist Church (1927 - ) | Open Durham|website=www.opendurham.org}}
File:First Baptist Church, Durham (22126461842).jpg
First Baptist is a member of the Southern Baptist Convention.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sbts.edu/news/danger-implement-change-with-care-fbc-durham-pastor-says/|title=Danger: Implement change with care, FBC Durham pastor says|website=The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary}}
In 1998, Rev. Andy Davis, a graduate of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary,{{cite web|title=Andy Davis and First Baptist Durham: I Wonder If Wormwood Grinned?|url=https://thewartburgwatch.com/2017/06/05/andy-davis-and-first-baptist-durham-i-wonder-if-wormwood-grinned/}} was appointed pastor of First Baptist.{{Cite web|url=https://equip.sbts.edu/publications/magazine/magazine-issue/spring-2017-vol-85-no-1/reformation-fbc-durham/|title=The Reformation of FBC Durham — Spring 2017 Southern Seminary Magazine|first=Freddy Sinarahua|last=Apuela|date=March 27, 2017|website=Southern Equip}} In 2001, deacons and church committee chairs tried to remove Davis for preaching conservative theology regarding gender roles and authority, but they were unsuccessful.
References
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Category:20th-century Baptist churches in the United States
Category:Baptist churches in North Carolina
Category:Churches in Durham, North Carolina
Category:Churches completed in 1927
Category:Neoclassical architecture in North Carolina
Category:Neoclassical church buildings in the United States