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833 Dr. Gardner C. Taylor Boulevard
(Formerly Marcy Avenue)
Between Madison Street and Putnam Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11216
Telephone (718) 622-1818
Fax (718) 857 – 1638 |
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FAITH
Sixteen years before slavery was abolished in the United States of America, four members of the Manhattan-based Abyssinian Baptist Church gathered on the evening of May 18, 1847, to establish the Concord Baptist Church of Christ. The Rev. Sampson White (then pastor of Abyssinian Church) gathered four of his members who had grown weary of crossing the river from Brooklyn to Manhattan to worship. The four founding members were: Mrs. Sara Dudley, Mrs. Maria Hampton, Mrs. Hagar Washington and Mr. John J. Washington. They called Rev. White to be their first pastor. |
FREEDOM
Rev. White was a well-known abolitionist. He believed strongly in the cause of black freedom and understood the precious power of faith in securing it. Rev. White led the Concord congregation in taking an active role in the anti-slavery movement, and they used their homes and church as “sanctuary” for runaway slaves.
When Rev. White resigned as pastor in 1851, he was succeeded by one whose very life and presence |
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embodied his life’s work: a runaway slave named Rev. Leonard Black. Leonard Black holds the distinction of being the shortest tenured pastor in Concord’s history. The mystery of the brevity of his leadership was revealed when Church historian and professor of Church History at Union Theological Seminary, the late Rev. Dr. James Melvin Washington uncovered Leonard Black’s written memoirs entitled, “The Life and Sufferings of Leonard Black, A Fugitive from Slavery.” As a slave, Leonard Black was |
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| determined to get an education and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When he escaped slavery, he came north. At Concord Church, he found a resting place from his life on the run, and an opportunity to share his God inspired talents and gifts. Yet, the enactment of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 required Free states to return runaway slaves to their previous owners. Fearing for his life and freedom, Leonard Black was once again, forced to be “on the run.” The Rev. Simon Bundick assumed the pastorate from 1852 to 1856. Rev. Sampson White returned as pastor from |
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| 1856 until 1858when Rev. John Carey took over and served as pastor of Concord from 1858 through 1862. He was succeeded by Rev. William Barnett in the years 1862 and 1863. |
HOPE
In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which legally ended slavery, and a spirit of hope returned to the black community of |
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Brooklyn. Also in that year, Concord called the Rev. Dr. William T. Dixon to become its sixth pastor. Rev. Dixon, who was only 22-years old when he was called to the Concord pulpit, helped Black Brooklynites to seize the spirit of hope for their future. Under his leadership the church experienced an influx in membership and by 1872, the congregation was too large for its Concord Street edifice and made the first of many relocations. |
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| Rev. Dixon was affectionately called “Father Dixon” and was widely viewed as the “Pastor of all of Brooklyn.” Over the span of his 46-year pastorate, from 1863 to 1909, the church grew and prospered and its name and influence greatly increased throughout America. When he died in 1909, 6,000 people attended his funeral services. He was heralded in newspapers as the most prominent African-American pastors of his day, “The Dean of Colored Pastors.” |
DETERMINATION
Upon the death of Father Dixon, Rev. Dr. William M. Moss was called to lead. The bespectacled Dr. Moss was what Dr. Cornel West describes as an “organic intellectual” and he dedicated his mind to the life of the church. Deeply concerned about the daily realities of life for former slaves, slave descendents and poor people who had migrated to Brooklyn from the South, Dr. Moss called attention to issues that were still oppressing his people: |
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unemployment, substandard housing, and substandard education.
Dr. Moss was instrumental in the founding of the National Urban League. A gifted pastor, Dr. Moss served Christ, the cause for black freedom and Concord church well.
In 1917, the church moved from Duffield to Adelphi Street in order to better accommodate a growing congregation and expanded services. |
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| Later, when the congregation again moved to accommodate its growing membership, it left behind a stained glass representation created in homage of the esteemed Rev. Dixon at the Adelphi Street location. |
| OUTSTRETCHED ARMS |
| In January 1921, the Rev. Dr. James B. Adams, a young |
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Army chaplain who hadserved as an Assistant Pastor to Dr. Moss assumed the Concord pulpit. Young, energetic and envisioned, Dr. Adams led the congregation into areas of community outreach never before imagined by a black congregation in America. |
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During his tenure, Concord expanded its reach into the black community. Concord’s development of religious education programs led to the church’s becoming a national model for the training of lay people in enlightened Christian discipleship.
In 1939, Dr. Adams secured the Marcy Avenue edifice for Concord – a major feat for an African American congregation at that time.
In the fall of 1946, The Concord Baptist Church of Christ was almost 100 years old. In its first 100 years, this congregation had –
- Lifted its claim on black freedom in its calling of a runaway slave to be its pastor
- Compelled black Christians to reach and stretch for hope even in the face of the devastating disappoints of federal laws
- Heralded to the world God’s claim that even black lives were precious in its support for national organizations that sought to protect former slaves, slave descendents and poor people
- Offered witness to the power of Jesus Christ to change lives beyond circumstances.
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JUSTICE
Eight months before it was preparing to celebrate its 100th Anniversary, the Concord
Congregation had to “bear each other up” as they said goodbye to Dr. Adams who passed away after 26 years of leadership. The centennial celebration brought to Concord’s pulpit the 29-year old Gardner Calvin Taylor from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In March 1948, the congregation called him to be their pastor. |
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On the evening of October 2, 1952, Concord’s beloved church edifice on Marcy Avenue was completely destroyed by fire. While the entire block was left in ashes and debris, miraculously, the church membership roll was spared destruction by a fallen sheet of roofing tin. The congregation was indeed stunned by the loss. But the congregation did not miss a beat of the Lords drum. Even though they had to return to the Adelphi Street church to |
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| worship and labor, and though they now stood in the midst of loss and the prospect of having to raise money for a new home – the spirit of hope prevailed. Its church records show that while the church building was destroyed completely by fire in October of 1952, at its business meeting in |
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November of 1952 before discussion was even entertained on the securing its own future home, the congregation demonstrated its faith in God -- and voted to give a donation to the Y.W.C.A! In fact, in the year immediately following the church’s destruction by fire, the Concord congregation rose to send financial support to the United Negro College Fund, the NAACP and the National Urban League.
On Friday, April 5, 1955, the congregation marched from St. Augustine Episcopal Church into lower Concord, its new Memorial Hall. Almost one year later on the June 1, 1965, the church entered the completed Concord Sanctuary, seating 2,250 people. The reconstruction cost $1,700,000 and special legislation was passed in New York State for banks to work together for the financing.
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