[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 71 (Tuesday, April 23, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S2997]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             162ND ANNIVERSARY OF FRIENDSHIP BAPTIST CHURCH

 Mr. OSSOFF. Mr. President, I rise to commend Friendship 
Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA, on its 162nd anniversary.
  Friendship Baptist Church was first established in 1862 and 
independently organized in 1866 in the days after the Civil War, 
becoming Atlanta's first Black Baptist Congregation.
  Originally run out of a refurbished railroad boxcar donated by the 
Ninth Street Baptist Church in Cincinnati, OH, Friendship Baptist 
Church has served as a launching point for several of Georgia's 
preeminent institutions of higher education, including Atlanta 
University in 1865 and both Morehouse and Spelman Colleges in 1879 and 
1881, respectively.
  In the years since its inception, the leadership and congregation of 
Friendship Baptist Church have played an integral role in both the 
faith-life of Atlanta, serving as a ``mother church'' to new spaces of 
worship for more families across Georgia, and in the civic life of 
Atlanta.
  Having moved their physical church for the third time in over a 
century, Friendship Baptist Church dedicated itself to be a ``church 
with no wall,'' embracing the meaning of their name and becoming a 
friend to the people of Atlanta and the people of Georgia.
  Today, Friendship Baptist Church is led by Pastor Reverend Dr. Kelly 
Miller Smith, Jr., with over 600 congregants and continues to play a 
vital role in the community.
  I commend the Friendship Baptist Church leadership, clergy, and 
congregation on this 162nd anniversary and thank them for their 
leadership in the community.

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