HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Alabama's oldest African American congregation celebrated their bicentennial right here in Huntsville at Saint Bartley Primitive Baptist Church.
The congregation gathered to open a time capsule stored twenty years ago. Inside are letters from church members to their families.
However, this church's roots go deeper than this; some 200 years ago.
St. Bartley is named after Bartley Harris, who took leadership over the church after a slave, William Harris, founded the congregation that was then called 'Huntsville African Baptist Church'.
William Harris had services at what was called 'Old Georgia Graveyard', a slave cemetery.
"We started actually, in a graveyard which is where Huntsville Hospital now sits - the actual parking lot is where the church started," says current Pastor Jaymes Mooney of St. Bartley Primitive Baptist Church.
In 1872, the church moved to Oak Avenue, now William Avenue, and was relocated to Belafonte Avenue in 1965 due to urban renewal.
Today, the church also held service at a parking lot at MidCity to maintain social distancing during the pandemic.
"It feels great celebrating 200 years!," says member Josephine Robinson.
Robinson is the daughter-in-law to Amos Robinson, the last pastor to serve at the original church ground. "Standing out here with all of my church members is a great, great feeling 'cause we haven't been together since March," she says.
Other members say they're happy to just be here. "For me it's grace, a blessing," added Deacon Irvin Pride.
Mooney says no matter what's going on, this church will remain a strong foundation. "I think that when we look at our history and we look that we survived wars, depression, racial injustice; it is an encouragement to us that even as we live in the midst of a global pandemic that we can survive," he says.
In January, St. Bartley will launch an entrepreneur academy for teens. In the spring, they'll also launch a bakery at MidCity as its temporary location, but it'll be permanent in Downtown Huntsville.