Green Bay A.M.E. Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll pass it along just the same. Now, you want to talk about something that started with nothing more than a gathering — no building, no deed, no denomination behind them yet — just a group of Black workers out at the Long Lake Cotton Plantation, coming together in 1866 to do what people have always done when the world feels heavy: they organized a church. That's where this story begins.

Informally, quietly, but with real intention. The very next year, 1867, the owners of the plantation designated a plot of land, and those workers built a sanctuary with their own hands. They called it Green Bay Church.

Simple name. Solid foundation. And in a part of Anderson County that didn't have a single church to speak of, it was the first — the first church in the entire Long Lake area.

Then in 1868, the congregation was formally recognized by the African Methodist Episcopal denomination, the A.M.E., and the church was renamed Green Bay A.M.E. Church. Official now.

Rooted. But they weren't done growin'. By 1870, members of the church organized a day school for their children.

Didn't wait for someone else to do it. Just did it. That school became known as Green Bay School, and it meant that the same community raising a church was also raising up the next generation with an education.

In 1887, the church was moved to this very site where you're standin' now. And when it arrived here, school classes were held right inside the church building itself — the congregation sharing its walls until a proper school facility could be erected. That facility came in 1899.

And the reach of Green Bay A.M.E. didn't stop at its own doors. Through missionary activities, the congregation helped establish two new churches over in the Tucker vicinity — New Salem Church and Bailey Chapel. One congregation, two more born from it.

Construction of a brand new sanctuary at this site began in 1956 and was completed in 1959. Still standing. Still active.

From a quiet, informal gathering on a cotton plantation in 1866 to a congregation that built a school, moved to new ground, raised up sister churches, and put up a new sanctuary a full ninety years later — Green Bay A.M.E. Church has been about one thing all along: showing up for its community, generation after generation. That's not a small thing.

That's the whole thing.

What the marker says

This congregation traces its history to 1866, when a group of black workers at the Long Lake Cotton Plantation gathered together informally to organize a church. The following year the owners of the plantation designated a plot of land on which the workers built a sanctuary, known as Green Bay Church. In 1868 the congregation was formally recognized by the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) denomination and was renamed Green Bay A.M.E. Church. It was the first church in the Long Lake area. In 1870 members of the church organized a day school for their children which became known as Green Bay School. When the church was moved to this site in 1887, school classes were held in the church building until a new school facility was erected in 1899. The church continued to grow in its new location. Missionary activities included the establishment of two new congregations in the Tucker vicinity: New Salem Church and Bailey Chapel. Construction of a new sanctuary at this site began in 1956 and was completed in 1959. Still an active congregation, Green Bay A.M.E. Church continues to serve the community with worship and outreach. (1989)