{"id":162269,"date":"2026-02-20T06:50:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T06:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/162269\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T06:50:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T06:50:08","slug":"the-light-on-a-hill-the-legacy-of-bethel-missionary-baptist-church-the-famuan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/162269\/","title":{"rendered":"The\u00a0light\u00a0on a hill:\u00a0The legacy of Bethel Missionary Baptist Church \u2013 The FAMUAN"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TheBethel Missionary Baptist Church is located on 224 N Martin Luther King Jr Blvd in Tallahassee, Florida, under the leadership of Reverend Dr. R. B. Holmes Jr., SDS. (Khalil-Lullah Ballentine\/FAMUAN)<\/p>\n

As the\u00a0African American\u00a0experience\u00a0in America\u00a0has\u00a0forged\u00a0community, resilience\u00a0and\u00a0innovation, the Black\u00a0church\u00a0has served as a\u00a0pillar\u00a0for African\u00a0Americans in times of poverty, systematic\u00a0oppression\u00a0and\u00a0racial injustice.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Historically, the\u00a0Black church has not only served as a place of worship, but also an economic epicenter for Black-owned\u00a0businesses,\u00a0social\u00a0services,\u00a0and refuge.\u00a0Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Tallahassee, Florida,\u00a0has served as\u00a0that light in the\u00a0local Black\u00a0community\u00a0since 1870.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things that was the greatest benefit of the community and of the civil rights movement was the Black church,\u201d said Pastor Derek Steele, son of Reverend CK Steele,\u00a0who was the\u00a0former pastor of Bethel Missionary Baptist Church. \u201cIt was Black pastors who were able to get involved, not worried about the support of their family, because their checks didn\u2019t depend on white people, their paycheck depended on the people supporting them \u2026 there were educated leaders who were filled with the Spirit of God to lead the movement.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Historical marker honoring Father James Page, original pastor of Bethel MBC who became ordained as a minister in 1851. (Khalil-Lullah Ballentine\/FAMUAN)<\/p>\n

Founded by\u00a0a\u00a0former\u00a0enslaved man\u00a0known as Father\u00a0James Page, Bethel Missionary Baptist Church has served a vital role in the progression of\u00a0the\u00a0African American\u00a0community.\u00a0While traditional religious spaces have been known to be confined to the four walls of a physical building, Bethel\u00a0has led a legacy of providing\u00a0ministry and resources to the community.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe history of Bethel\u00a0goes\u00a0back\u00a0to the institution of slavery,\u201d said Dr. Larry Rivert, distinguished professor\u00a0of\u00a0history\u00a0at\u00a0Florida A&M University\u00a0and\u00a0author of\u00a0\u201cFather\u00a0James Page: An\u00a0Enslaved\u00a0Preacher\u2019s\u00a0Climb\u00a0to\u00a0Freedom.\u201d\u00a0\u201cDuring\u00a0that time,\u00a0an\u00a0enslaved\u00a0James\u00a0Page was given permission by his enslaver to go about different plantations.\u00a0\u2026\u00a0Page\u00a0was instrumental in starting Bethel Missionary Baptist Church;\u00a0he felt that the church would be the center hub to number one religious activities and number two,\u00a0social and economic concerns of the community.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bethel\u2019s\u00a0ministry\u00a0expanded\u00a0beyond\u00a0Sunday\u00a0services\u00a0as they\u00a0prioritized\u00a0educating the community on\u00a0social and\u00a0civil\u00a0rights\u00a0issues.\u00a0This ministry\u00a0also\u00a0led\u00a0the\u00a0establishment\u00a0of\u00a0Bethel\u00a0Christian\u00a0Academy\u00a0and\u00a0Steele-Collins Charter Middle School\u00a0in\u00a01996,\u00a0Bethel\u00a0Towers for\u00a0Senior Citizens\u00a0in 2000\u00a0and\u00a0the\u00a0Frenchtown\u00a0Financial\u00a0Opportunity Center\u00a0in\u00a02016.\u00a0These services\u00a0became\u00a0essential to\u00a0the\u00a0Black\u00a0community\u00a0as access\u00a0wavered,\u00a0and\u00a0there\u00a0were few resources.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Bethel is affectionally known as \u201cthe People\u2019s Church\u201d, attracting both Black and white worshippers and supporters. (Khalil-Lullah Ballentine\/FAMUAN)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were left at the will of the majority, which was white citizens and their resources, and even my dad had problems getting a loan to buy a house,\u201d\u00a0Pastor Steele\u00a0said.\u00a0\u201cBlacks had a terrible time trying to get loans, and because of redlining and all the kind of things that they did to keep\u00a0Blacks down \u2026 the church has been essential in continuing to support and hold up our Black citizens.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

While the Black church has been known as a place of community and progress, younger generations of\u00a0African Americans\u00a0are\u00a0attending\u00a0church less than their elders.\u00a0Millennial\u00a0and Generation Z\u00a0Black\u00a0Americans\u00a0are about twice as likely as\u00a0those in\u00a0the Silent Generation to say they\u00a0rarely\u00a0attend religious services, if ever,\u00a0according to Pew\u00a0Research\u00a0Center.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThose\u00a0of us who were raised in the church, when we had the opportunity to get away from the church, that\u2019s what we did, but we found ourselves coming back, because the church is still a very vibrant part of our community,\u201d said\u00a0Dianne Williams-Cox, Bethel Missionary Baptist Church Member of 40 years. \u201cWe see the churches taking leadership in situations that become ones that need to be amplified, such as\u00a0voters\u2019\u00a0rights and voter education, marches against injustice\u00a0\u2026\u00a0I think that it\u00a0is not a lost cause.\u00a0I think it\u00a0is something that we need to continue to feed and fuel to make sure that we\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0lose any generation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Reverend C.K. Steele as an instrumental leader in his time as pastor of Bethel from 1952-1980. (Khalil-Lullah Ballentine\/FAMUAN)<\/p>\n

While ministry and engagement have evolved alongside civil access and the needs of the Black community, Bethel Missionary Baptist Church has continued its central mission \u201cto transform the lives of people for the Glory of God and for the good of the community.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe majority of the population who take advantage of it is from the\u00a0Black\u00a0community, but there are others who also\u00a0benefit\u00a0from the work that\u00a0[Bethel]\u00a0does\u00a0in the community,\u201d\u00a0Cox\u00a0said.\u00a0\u201cThe\u00a0various ministries at\u00a0Bethel;\u00a0the\u00a0couples ministry, the singles ministries, the children\u2019s ministry, the youth ministry, the choir ministry, all of these ministries where people could come together and work for the betterment of our community\u00a0\u2026\u00a0through the grace of God, Bethel has been able to provide because the people had a willing mind to do the work.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bethel Missionary Baptist Church is located on 224 N Martin Luther King Jr Blvd in Tallahassee, Florida, under…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":162270,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[232,234,233],"class_list":{"0":"post-162269","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tallahassee","8":"tag-tallahassee","9":"tag-tallahassee-headlines","10":"tag-tallahassee-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162269\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}