Antioch Baptist

Antioch Baptist Church
1057 Texas Avenue

    On April 23, 1866 in the presence of Reverend George Tucker and Reverend William Baliss of First Baptist Church, seventy-three members of the community received honorable dismissal from the church and formed the First Colored Baptist Church of Shreveport, Louisiana.¹ The church was dedicated on August 18, 1871.² Twenty years later the church underwent a renovation; a pool was added, new parsons elected, and three lots on Texas Avenue bought.³ The congregation poured the foundation for their church in the late 1800’s.  The church was destroyed by a storm, but it was rebuilt at a cost of $3,198.45. ⁴ The church, designed by local architect
N. S. Allen, was dedicated at 1057 Texas Avenue in 1903.⁵ The church’s name changed to Union Missionary Baptist Church and then finally to Antioch Baptist Church.⁶

The Romanesque Revival style church was built of red brick, trimmed in white. It features a fan-shaped seating plan with the altar along the long wall. A semi-circular balcony faces the apse and rests on cast-iron Corinthian columns.⁷

In 1906 the church became a member of the National Baptist Convention, U. S. A., Inc. The church was repaired in 1910, and a Deaconess Board was organized in 1918 with a Junior Deaconess Board being formed in 1931. The church was renovated again in 1943 and 1958. The Matron’s Auxiliary initiated the first scholarship awards to the high school graduates of Antioch Baptist in 1960. A year later the Antioch Herald, the church’s first newspaper, was published. The Mercy House was formed in 1982. In 1986 Doretha Barnes served as the editor of the Antioch Herald when it was reestablished, and on April 17, 1986 Johnnye Martin was named to the Board of Trustees, the first woman to be so honored.⁸

            In 1983 the historic church was added to the National Register of Historic Places.⁹ Four churches owe their beginnings to Antioch Baptist Church: Avenue Baptist Church, Trinity Baptist Church, Evergreen Baptist Church, and Union Mission Baptist Church.¹⁰

 Click Here to see a list of the original 73 members.¹¹

The last original member of the congregation, Catherine Ford, died in 1940 at the age of 109.¹²
 

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Parish of Caddo 2004©