This Black Congregation Is Older Than The United States

George Leile was a man intent on spreading God’s word. After obtaining his freedom, Leile preached to enslaved communities in Georgia and South Carolina. He hoped eventually to lead a congregation of his own. 

Upon learning that it was illegal for enslaved persons to worship together in South Carolina, Leile moved to Savannah, Georgia.

In 1773 Leile founded Savannah’s First African Baptist Church. Two years later Leile was officially ordained as the first Black Baptist preacher in America. 

He led the First African Baptist Church until 1782, when he moved to Jamaica and started another congregation.

But his departure didn’t mean the end of this congregation in Savannah. 

George Leile’s First African Baptist Church is still a thriving religious community. Its interior is warm and inviting, with haint blue walls and a 9-patched ceiling that signals that it was once a stop on the Underground Railroad.

Full of intricate details documenting generations of Black spiritual resistance, it’s humbling to know this church building, completed in 1859, is home to a congregation that is older than the US itself.

Leile’s congregation is now the oldest Black church in North America. 

We, too, have the power to build spiritual communities that leave a profound legacy for future generations as they live out their faith.