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Harold D. Singleton’s History

From A Short History of the Work of Seventh-day Adventists Among the Negros of North America Before 1909

GEORGIA

The General Conference of 1896 recommended “That Miss M. M. Osborne make Atlanta, Georgia her field of labor, engaging in work for the colored people.”

Early in 1900, M. C. Sturdevant whom we have already met, as the pioneer of the work in Birmingham, was sent to Atlanta to work among the colored people. Sister Sturdevant started the first church school for colored in Atlanta. This was in 1900. At Atlanta, Brother Sturdevant found only one colored Sabbathkeeper, Brother Hall by name. The first meeting places in Atlanta were very “humble halls and shacks.’ When the Sturdevants left Atlanta in 1902, they left a company of twenty believers. The church in Atlanta was organized. April 19, 1903, with a membership of fifteen. In January, 1907, Elder W. H. Sebastian arrived at Atlanta to take over the work. At that time there was not a church building in the state for colored Seventh-day Adventists. There were sixty-four counties in the state not yet entered. Only the one small church in Atlanta represented the truth in the State of Georgia. When Elder W. C. White visited Atlanta in 1909, he found a mission school of two rooms and homemade desks. Since necessitating strict economy, they kept their trunks and beds in parts of the school rooms. A new location was purchased about this time. The new building, 34 x 48 ft., faced Greensferry Avenue. It was in the neighborhood of Spellman, Morehouse and Atlanta University. The front of this building was used as a church auditorium and the back for school purposes. Back of the main building another two story building was erected for school rooms and parsonage. These buildings were dedicated on February 6, 1909.

The Berean Church History 1903 – 1999

From a commemorative book celebrating the church’s relocation into a new commodious sanctuary and church facility [Note: Anna Knight did not reside in Atlanta in 1903].

The history of the Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church extends back to 1903, when a small company of believers, led by sister Anna Knight, was organized into a church. Services were conducted in the home of one of the believers until a building was purchased on Greens ferry Avenue. This building was dedicated and named Second Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Elder W. H. Sebastian served as the first pastor. He was assisted by Elder M. C. Striken.

Elder John Mann[s], then pastoring in Savannah, Georgia was asked to watch over the little flock when Elder Sebastian was sent to another field of labor. Elder Mann[s] was assisted by Elder T. S. Tate.

Elder E. Williams conducted the first Evangelical Effort in 1916. At the close of the effort several new believers were added to the church. Elder Williams served as pastor from 1916 to 1920.

In the summer of 1920, Elder G. E. Peters conducted a very successful evangelical crusade in Atlanta. At the end of this crusade, more than 200 precious souls were baptized. The church grew rapidly during the short time Elder Peters served as pastor.

Elder J. S. Green was in charge as pastor from 1921 to 1922. The membership of the church increased when a tent effort was conducted.

Elder J. S. Crichlow was the shepherd of this growing flock from 1922 to 1926. Under the successful leadership of Elder Crackle the church and school building were remodeled.

Elder F. A. Osterman served as pastor from 1926 to 1928. He conducted a successful tent effort and the church continued to grow. He established a mission in the southwest section of the city, and under his pastorate a lot adjacent to the church property was purchased. This transaction increased the value of the church.

Elder W. H. Winston was the last pastor of the Greens ferry Avenue church, and the first pastor of the church on Ashby Street. He served as pastor from 1929 to 1932. Under his leadership, in 1929, the church on Greens ferry Avenue was sold and the new church at 205 Ashby street was built.

Elder F. H. Stevens was the minister in charge from 1932 to 1934. He gave strong leadership.

Elder A. B. B. Storey pastored the church from 1934 to 1935. He conducted two very successful evangelistic meetings. Under his dynamic leadership our first weekly bulletin was printed and the name of the church was changed from Second Seventh-day Adventist to Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Elder E. Wilkins served as pastor from 1936 to 1938. Under his pastorate, two tent efforts were conducted.

Elder F. S. Keitts was the shepherd of this flock from 1928 to 1934. He added new believers to the church after conducting a successful tent effort.

Elder J. G. Thomas, a veteran evangelist, gave strong, untiring leadership during the period 1941 to 1945. The membership grew by leaps and bounds during these years. He served this Atlanta church as interim pastor several times.

Elder W. W. Fordham came to Atlanta in the summer of 1945. Again the west side of the city was stirred with a very successful Evangelical Crusade. At the close of the meeting more than 90 souls were added to the church. Elder Fordham served as pastor from 1945 to 1946.

Elder W. S. Banfield was the minister in charge for a very short, but successful period of time. He served as pastor from 1946 to 1947.

Elder L. S. Follette served as pastor from 1947 to 1948. Under his leadership, two more classrooms were added to the lower level of the church.

Elder J. E. Cox was the pastor during the period 1948 to 1951. Under his leadership, the church was remodeled and enlarged to accommodate the fast growing membership.

Elder Walter S. Starks was our pastor from 1951 to 1954. Under the leadership of Elder Starks, plans were made to purchase the site of Berean Junior Academy.

Elder J. P. Winston served as pastor for a very short, but successful period of time from 1954 to 1955.

Elder J. F. Street was the pastor from 1955 to 1959. During this period, Berean Junior Academy was built.

Elder H. L. Cleveland came to Atlanta as minister in 1960. During the summer of 1960, he conducted a very successful tent effort and the membership was increased by approximately 200 souls. The next summer Elder Cleveland conducted another highly successful Evangelistic Crusade and nearly 200 souls were added to the church. With great increase in membership, the seating problem became acute. The church in Ashby Street was sold in December, 1961, and then purchased the property at 312 Hightower Road (now H. E. Holmes Drive) on which to build our new church. Ground-breaking ceremonies held April 15, 1962, marked the beginning of the new Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church. In 1965, Elder Cleveland held another successful effort on the eastside of town where more than 200 formed the nucleus of the now flourishing Boulevard Drive Seventh-day Adventist Church. Dedication service of the new church was held in June 1963. Elder Cleveland served from 1960 to 1967. During these years Pastor H. F. Barbour served as Assistant Pastor, directing his leadership to the youth of the church.

Elder C. D. Henri came to Berean in 1967, after having served as a missionary in Africa for eighteen years. During his pastorate, the mortgage on the church was liquidated. In 1970, Elder Henri received an invitation to serve as president of the East African Division in Nairobi, Kenya.

Elder R. L. Woodfork served as pastor for a short time, 1970 to 1971, before he accepted the position of President of South Atlantic Conference.

Elder G. Herfin Taylor came to us in 1971. Since his coming, he has conducted two Evangelistic Crusades, put the Berean Church complex on sound financial footing, and fostered the retiring of the mortgage on Berean Junior Academy. The spiritual growth of the church increased, and unto God. During this period of history, 1971 to 1976, Berean was one of the most dynamic of all, and it moved forward by conducting evangelistic campaigns, which led to approximately five hundred and fifty to the baptismal pool.

Elder Fred W. Parker held the responsibility of leadership from 1976 until 1980. His warm personality and winning smile made for success in public evangelism. More than seven hundred were won for Christ. Elder Parker purchased land for expanded parking and fully equipped the church office. During the annual Ingathering Season, a super goal was set for $30,000.00. The church met that goal. A new church was organized during his pastorate in the Red Oak, Georgia, community. The harmonizing Coeds and Usher Board No. 1 came into existence through his nurture.

Elder Ralph Franklin’s pastorate was from 1980 to 1985. Under his leadership, Berean acquired a 14-acre tract of land across Hightower Road at a cost of $185,000.00. The church completed improvements that included carpeting the Sanctuary, a new roof, a new front porch and steps, major repainting and reupholstering the pulpit furniture. The Day Care Center was renovated and the Sabbath School Department purchased a new piano. The church was consistent in its financial support of Berean Academy. Total giving for the period approached $3 million dollars. While only one tent meeting was conducted, the church received 205 members into fellowship by baptism from 1980 to 1985.

Elder Walter L. Pearson, Jr., arrived at Berean in April of 1985. The physical plant was improved with a major renovation of the Early Learning Center, new pews, carpeting and pulpit furniture in the main Sanctuary and resurfacing of two parking areas. The church purchased and paid for a new senior citizens van, 4 IBM computers with software, a new telephone system, new duplicating equipment, offset printing equipment and, with the cooperation of the Women’s Day Committee and the Music Department, a new Grand piano. Public evangelism was well served when Berean conducted a four week crusade at the Robert W. Woodruff Arts Center in 1987. Almost 300 new members were baptized. Berean cooperated in a successful effort to fund the construction of the Adventist Education Metroplex with a joint rally that realized more than $40 thousand dollars in cash and almost $300 thousand dollars in pledges during the day. The treasury department of the church reported an 85% increase in tithes and a 65% increase in non-tithe giving during the last three and one-half years of Elder Pearson’s administration.

Elder C. Dunbar Henri again served the church as its interim pastor.

Elder Richard E. Long came to pastor the church in September 1993. He enhanced Berean’s physical plant by replacing the roof and building an entrance ramp for the physically disadvantaged. During his administration, we were also able to resurface the parking lot and increase the number of designated handicapped parking spaces. Through his ministry, souls were added to the church membership.

Elder Eric C. Ward became pastor in May 1998. He reminded members of the importance of proper Sabbath observance, consistent family worship, Sabbath School and prayer meeting attendance, as well as good stewardship of money, time and talent. His comprehensive, extensive, and thorough Bible teaching has led to the addition of many new members.

Under his leadership, major church office equipment and technological resources have been acquired to assist in daily church operation.

His major project has been providing leadership for a new education facility for Berean Elementary School and Greater Atlanta Adventist Academy. The first phase of this project began with the renovation of the education facility on Westview Place, until the permanent facility at Hamilton E. Holmes Drive is completed.

Elder Ward’s ministry of more than fifty years allowed him to lead the congregation into purchasing another worship and community center, at our present site, 294 Hamilton E. Holmes Drive, Northwest.

ADVENTISTS IN ATLANTA

Somewhere there may be hidden a vast depository of primary resource material describing the origin of the group of worshippers currently known as “Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church.” The introduction for this embryonic archive is not based, however, on miraculously preserved records. Most events that happened over 110 years ago are (with the exception of court and census data) badly documented. Providentially, the fame of an early shepherd of the Berean fold is invaluable for researching the history of the church. This luminary was Sister (or “Miss,” if you prefer) Anna Knight. The precise date of her arrival in Atlanta is ambiguous, but her contribution toward the nurture of the future Bereans is indisputable.

Anna Knight’s pioneering missionary work in India, her residency at Oakwood University, and her unorthodox Mississippi forebears are all described by various sources. The time she spent in the Atlanta is relatively less well-documented. There exists, however, several notices of lectures she delivered to enrapt audiences in the greater Atlanta area,

An obituary for Anna Knight by Benjamin J. Baker briefly describes her Atlanta experience:

Knight was appointed an administrator of a hospital for blacks in Atlanta. Knight was a sensation in Atlanta and became famous in its thriving African American community, lecturing and consulting.

A better source for enlightenment is Chapter 4 of Josephine Benton’s book, Called by God, one entitled Innovative Administrator: Anna Knight. Several paragraphs are dedicated to a description of Miss Knight’s Atlanta work. Here is a spoiler: one of Miss Knight’s boldest innovations was to utilize credit to get important work accomplished sooner, rather than later.

Miss Knight received an unexpected invitation from the Southeastern Union Conference to help develop a new sanitarium for black people in Atlanta. This was in 1910… leaders who knew and valued her overseas mission service and had now approved her call to Atlanta. When Anna arrived in Atlanta expecting to begin work at the new medical center, she found the sanitarium in an embryonic state… She decided to sleep in an empty room of the sanitarium. She was… invited by many groups to recount her work in India. This helped break down prejudice toward Seventh-day Adventists.

…she accepted chairmanship of the board of the two-teacher church school in Atlanta. In a sacrificial act, [she] used her savings, earmarked for a winter coat [Atlanta was much colder than the Mississippi area she had immigrated from, and most assuredly colder than India], as the down payments on the stove and school desks. Some… were apprehensive about the debt. Anna assured them that the Lord… would impress the patrons to pay their tuition; and that, indeed, happened. However, the newcomer from Mississippi now had no funds for a winter coat to protect her from Atlanta’s frosty winter [God intervenes to supply Miss Knight a splendid coat, of course].

Another area of concern for Miss Knight was the fact that, although for black people there was a Young Men’s Christian Association in Atlanta, there was no corresponding institution for women; she decided to do something about it. She asked representative women to meet with her, and they proceeded to set up a local Young Women’s Christian Association for blacks… The new YWCA held mass meetings to present truths concerning health, temperance, social purity, and personal hygiene… The national YWCA parent organization commended the work being done but did not affiliate the Atlanta group just then because of its strong ties with the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Miss Knight offered to resign as secretary, but the group preferred to continue operating as an independent local unit under her leadership.

During the last year she worked in Atlanta, as many new members were added through her ministry as there had been in the church when it was organized. Included among these converts whom Anna Knight won to the Lord were several prominent citizens of Atlanta [H.D. Singleton, the first president of the South Atlantic Conference revealed this information to author Josephine Benton in a 1988 phone call] …because of her example of sacrificial giving coupled with the sound Biblical instruction she gave on stewardship, each year while she was leader of the work there the tithes and offerings doubled. Because of Anna Knight’s spirituality, ability, and productivity, she advanced to larger responsibilities [to paraphrase, Atlanta should not be granted a monopoly on her talent].

AN UNLIKELY LEAD, FROM AN UNEXPECTED SOURCE

Here is information from the website of the General Assembly of Free Seventh Day Adventists. They are wonderful people, but feel compelled to defend their separation from the main Adventist denomination with Bible verses which, while justifying division, do not allude to the primary reason for their “defection.” This writer will provide one for them: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) The white leadership of the mainstream Adventist church were certain, in their deceitful (but cluelessly well-intentioned) hearts, that they knew what was best for the American negro. Tithes by the black membership to the General Conference were a form of taxation without representation. This inbalance was corrected immediately following World War II with the creation of the Regional Conferences. Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church is a subgroup of the South Atlantic Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

Racial integration was evident in the earliest Seventh-day Adventist congregations, but the growth of post-Civil War segregation resulted in the creation of companies and churches that were racially distinct (Miss Anna Knight, as a college student, experienced her own misadventures at Southern University as a result of this growing intra-denominational schism). Many pioneering Adventists leaders of color grew weary of the patronizing attitude of the Caucasian leadership of the church and ultimately reacted by “flying the coop,” among them James K. Humphrey, Lewis C. Sheafe, and the man of the hour, John W. Manns.

John Manns served as the second pastor of Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church, Atlanta (known in his day as Second Adventist Church, Atlanta). Below are some brief, but enlightening revelations from the “Free Adventist” website:

John Manns pioneered the Seventh-day Adventist work among African-Americans in Florida and Georgia. Anna Knight felt that he was the most effective preacher among African-American ministers. Others said he possessed extraordinary natural leadership gifts. [from “Perspectives: Black Seventh Day Adventist and Church Loyalty,” Elder Charles E. Bradford D. D., p. 16]

Here is a LINK to the source of the preceding quotation. The source is not much larger than the extracted quote. A short memoir by Harold D. Singleton recounts a story he heard as a child claiming that John Manns was murdered by one of his ministers, a man named Mosely so that the latter could take control of the Free Adventist empire. Elder Singleton emphasized that this was just a rumor.

HISTORY OF BEREAN ACCORDING TO THE FREE ADVENTISTS WEBSITE

This history goes back to 1903 when a small company of believers, led by Sister Anna Knight [more likely Sister M. C. Sturdevant] was organized into a church.

Services were held in the home of one of the believers until a building was purchased on Greensferry Avenue and named Second Seventh-day Adventist Church. Elder G.E. Peters organized the First Mission School in 1906 and Sister Anna Knight was the first teacher [this differs from the 1910 arrival date for Miss Knight supplied by author Josephine Benton].

Elder W.H. Sebastian served as the first pastor, assisted by Elder M.C. Strachan. Elder John Manns became the new pastor when Elder Sebastian was reassigned. [The preceding statement is taken from http://www.atlantabereansda.org, About Us, Atlanta Church History]

EVIDENCE FROM THE ATLANTA CITY DIRECTORIES

A plaque in the lobby of the present home of Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church, Atlanta indicates that it was formed in 1903. The Free Adventist website assertion that 1906 marks the founding of an African-American Adventist mission school would indicate that a search of the city directories should begin with that year. Regrettably, this edition is missing from the Fulton County Library Special Collection.

1907– The original Greensferry Avenue location of the original African-American Seventh-day Adventist presence in Atlanta, Georgia is now firmly embedded in the Atlanta University Center, The exact parcels that were designated 209-211 Greensferry are currently owned by Atlanta University. A 5 1/2 acre amalgam of former single-family plots is presently (2019) accessed at nearly 35 million dollars.

In 1907 the site of the future mission school, #209, was occupied by William A. Scott and his wife Susie. His profession, like that of our Lord’s temporal father, was carpentry. Josephine Benton’s remarks about the unfinished condition of the properties Anna Knight encountered at this location provokes a romantic supposition that carpenter Scott may have been a contributor to this work in progress.

The 1907 Atlanta City Directory includes information about an existing Adventist church at either 507 or 509 East Fair (neither Road nor Street nor Avenue; just plain “Fair”), as two distinct entries provide two different street numbers. This was the fair-complected First Seventh-day Adventist Church, Atlanta.

Information about the incomes of City of Atlanta officials in 1907 reveals that most of the top brass (including the mayor) earned a $3,000 a year salary. An exception was the fire chief, who in those perilous times no doubt deserved his extra $1,000 per annum.

1908– No Adventists yet occupy the Greensferry Avenue site. No Anna Knight.

1909– Still no data on Greensferry Avenue Adventism.

The short 1909 telephone directory assigns the number “Main 1” to the Department of Public Works and City Stockade (an archaic term for the city prison). The linked City of Atlanta history page discloses that “Most prisoners were incarcerated for petty crimes and misdemeanors, with the average stockade sentence being 15 to 20 days. The original prison housed both sexes and races, as well as children. The prisoners were used for physical labor within the city.” If more laborers were needed, the police probably arrested more people.

1910– The Adventists have landed!

209 Greensferry Avenue is now officially occupied by “Seventh Day Adventist Sanitarium.” Anna Knight herself may even have been present. She learned the craft of nursing under the direction of Doctor John Harvey Kellogg at the “big” sanitarium back in Battle Creek, Michigan. Anecdotes about her nursing activities in Atlanta furnished by author Josephine Benton reveal (as does the story of the healthy dietary choices of the captive Hebrew youth in the Book of Daniel) the superiority of Scriptural health measures to the prevailing medical quackery of that era.

211 Greensferry Avenue is now home to “Seventh Day Adventist Church.”

Nestled between these two parcels at #210 is the residence of Julia E. Blue. The personal listing for her reveals her occupation to be “car clnr Pullman Co.” The paternalistic founder of this successful company, George Pullman, employed a racially and ethnically diverse workforce. He had survived a cataclysmic labor strike sixteen years earlier (1894). At its height, 250,000 workers in 27 states were involved. Wages and hours had declined, but the founder did not correspondingly lower the rents of the company-owned housing most of his workforce called home. Then President Grover Cleveland used Army troops to keep strikers from obstructing commerce. Thirty strikers were killed, and many more wounded during the course of this strike.

1911– Missing City Directory

1912– 209 Greensferry is no longer designated as “Seventh Day Adventist Sanitarium.” The new label reads “Y M C A (c),” and a second occupancy is proclaimed to be “Seventh Day Adv M School (c).” The “(c)” signifies that the institutions are “colored.” The “M” in the school title is initially misleading as there is no key to abbreviations provided in this directory. It could stand for “Middle” or “Military” (in any other context than that of Adventism), but an alternate listing for the school reveals that “M” stands for “Mission.” The “Y M C A” (this writer has preserved the quaint and archaic spacing of this acronym of the ancient directory) will soon include female Christians under Miss Knight’s aegis.

Sleeper car cleaner Julia Blue remains, in 1912, sandwiched between the two Adventist strongholds at 209 and 211. She resides at 210 Greensferry Avenue.

211 Greensferry, like 209, also lists two distinct occupancies. The first of these reads “Seventh Day Adv ch (c),” followed by the name of Dr. John S. Cheshire. The sanitarium formerly listed at #209 may have claimed some of Dr. Cheshire’s time, but the business section of the directory reveals that he is currently practicing medicine at 16 1/2 Broad Street.

The business listings include this enterprise: “COCA-COLA CO, THE, Asa G Candler, pres, C H Candler, vice pres, F M Robinson, sec-treas, mfrs of “Coca-Cola” he best of all drinks, 50 Magnolia, Bell phone, M-1011.

Anna Knight is finally officially recognized as a resident of Greensferry Avenue in this directory. She is not mentioned in the street listing, but her personal entry reads “Knight Anna (c), sec colored branch Y M C A, r 209 Greensferry av,” the site of both the “Y” and the school.

Former (and future) Pullman Car cleaner Julia Blue is still living at #210, but her occupation is now “cook.”

Anna Knight is not mentioned in the 1913 directory, but this omission does not necessarily indicate her physical absence, for much work remains to be accomplished.

1914– The multitasking nature of the newly consolidated and diversified parcel known as “209 Greensferry Avenue” gets ignored by the 1914 Atlanta City Directory. All the street directory reveals is “Seventh Day Adv Ch (c).” It was business as usual (church, school, sanitarium, and Y M C A), at 209, one presumes.

Julia Blue of #210 is again working for the Pullman Company, her one-woman walk-out having ended.

1915– Putting the cart before the horse, in 1915 neighbor Julia Blue has departed (temporarily) Greensferry Avenue. A colleague cook named Mary Overton (c) has taken her place.

The “horse,” Annie (sic) Knight appears to have finally acquired her own residence, one immediately adjacent to the newly amalgamated Adventist holdings. She is listed in the personal section of the city directory as residing at 207, a twenty second walk away from the nexus of her varied responsibilities. This place will serve as well as any other to note that Knight biographer Josephine Benton reveals that energetic Anna Knight conducted upwards of 500 Bible studies while residing in Atlanta.

1916– The purported tenth anniversary of the Adventist presence on Greensferry Avenue coincides with another scale-down in the quantity and quality of information provided by the city directory.

#207, the newest Anna Knight residence, is absent from the Greensferry address listings.

The accessory annals of #210 continue with the departure of short-term resident Mary Overton (Tenant? Delinquent buyer? Relative?), and her replacement by a person named “J. Blue” (Julia, of course).

The name of Anna Knight disappears from the 1916 Atlanta City Directory. This name recurs in 1918, but it is another Anna, and not “the” Anna (our Anna).

1917– Missing City Directory

1918– Research into the Greensferry Avenue presence of the Adventist Church that would eventually be designated Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church hits a temporary snag in 1918. Perhaps directory updates were temporarily suspended due to the overarching demands of World War I. There is a degree of justifiable defection at this time by African-American Adventists from the mainstream denomination, but membership levels in the official Seventh-day Adventist Church experience considerable growth, despite a selective attrition. In this significant year, W.H. Green is elected to be the first Black Secretary of the Negro Department of the General Conference. The world is in transition. Soldiers of color find themselves treated respectfully in Paris, a startling contrast to the treatment they receive upon their return to the States.

The 1918 Atlanta City Directory lists the sole resident of 209 Greensferry Avenue to be “Elder Tate.” Any initial assumption that this person may have been an Adventist church Elder is dispelled upon consulting the personal listings. The man’s first name actually is “Elder.”

Julia Blue is again absent from #210, and a man named Hugh Austin is present.

The “false” Anna Knight previously mentioned, widow of A.W. Knight, appears for the first time in the 1918 city directory. The true Anna Knight has, by this time, been deemed by the General Conference and its newly minted Negro Department to be far too important to confine to the relatively narrow environs of Greater Atlanta. From a future home base at Oakwood College she would be in a better position to offer encouragement, leadership, and inspiration to every American Seventh-day Adventist, with an emphasis, naturally, on those of African heritage.

Anna Knight lived to be nearly one-hundred years old. There are many current (2019) members of Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church (and other churches as well) who can share their personal memories of this beloved, energetic, and effective propagator of the Advent message.