The Cedear Grove Tabernacle of Praise appears to be attached to and affiliated with the Cedar Grove Baptist Church. They are located together at 612 Norwalk Street, just off West Wendover between the car dealerships and Costco. The church got its start in 1923, nearly half a century before Wendover Avenue even existed. In the 1920's, this would have been a rural Baptist church. The first church was actually constructed in 1926 and rebuilt in 1966. We are so thankful that Cedar Grove has archived some of its history on their website. We'll share some of it here and provide the link in case you want to read more.
The tract of land for the original Cedar Grove Baptist Church was donated by the Boren Family of the nearby Pamona Terra Cotta Pipe Company. Back in the 1920's, in order to raise money for the church, there were several fundraisers. Dr. Charlotte Hawkins Brown of the Palmer Institute was a guest speaker at a fundraising banquet held at the Terra Cotta School. Rev. J.T. Hairston also spoke. Dr. David D. Jones, former president of Bennett College sang at the fundraiser. Later, to celebrate the construction of the new church, the entire congregation marched down Red Road (now Wendover) to Buffalo Creek for the first baptism (excerpted from here). Today, reverend James Johnson and his wife co-pastor the church. We offer this photo and text to you for Sacred Sunday!
I always enjoy your Sunday series showing off various churches. I'm a history buff, so I have an interest is how things developed over the years and the factors involved.
Posted by: Jacob | Sunday, November 07, 2010 at 06:12 PM