St. Luke Baptist Church

St. Luke Baptist Church

One of the most influential black churches in the region is Saint Luke Baptist Church, founded on the banks of the Chipola River in August 1867. The Reverend Samuel Brown conducted the first worship service, during which the congregation sang the hymn “All Hail the Power of Jesus Name.” Baptisms continued to be held at that location on the river during this period.

A member, who was a blacksmith, allowed his shop to be used as a church. In July 1888, the church trustees bought Lot #149 in the Town of Marianna’s plan. Within a few years, a wooden church was constructed on the current site under the leadership of the Reverend William King, who was pastor from 1888 to 1894.

Reverend King David Britt

Rev. Britt was born in Marianna on April 14, 1882, the son of H.W. and Fannie Britt. He preached his trial sermon in August 1901 and was granted a license the same day. He was ordained in 1902 by the late Rev. J.C. Blackshear. Rev. Britt attended Florida State Normal College (now Florida A&M University) for two years under the auspices of the State Board of Education and the Phelps Bible School at Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama. He held Princeton University diplomas and completed the ministerial course at Florida Normal College.

He taught in public schools for ten years and in some of the best private schools in West Florida for fifteen years. Rev. Britt founded and served as the president of the Baptist College, a seminary, overseeing the construction of the college on Pennsylvania Avenue. The college served as a theological training center and provided an elementary school for Marianna’s black community.

Rev. Britt served as the pastor of Saint Luke Baptist Church for seventeen years, from 1911 to 1912 and 1913 to 1928. When he began his tenure, he found a dedicated but disorganized congregation. In the first year, more than one hundred fifty people were baptized. As a result of this growth, the current brick church was built. The seventeen years of Rev. Britt’s service as the pastor of Saint Luke are affectionately known as the “golden years of Saint Luke.”

Although it is unclear who designed or built the church, Rev. Britt is believed to have played a significant role in its design. Under his leadership, residents of Marianna’s black and white community worked together to build the present brick church in 1921.

Architecture and Design

The design of St. Luke Baptist Church incorporates many elements of the Gothic Revival Style. These include pointed arch windows, towers on either side of the central nave, a prominently accentuated steep gable roof, and an emphasis on the verticality of the entire structure. One tower has a polygonal pointed roof with a spire, while the other has castellated parapets. The building also features stained glass windows and a round window at the entrance, all complementing the Gothic design. In terms of engineering, the building is substantial, with a continuous concrete foundation and solid brick walls 16 inches thick at the basement level and 12 inches thick at the main story.

Abandonment

Many of the more prominent citizens of Marianna’s black community were members of the congregation. The building was vacated in 1984. The church was a stop on Florida’s Black History Trail and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 12, 2003.

On October 10, 2018, Hurricane Michael made landfall in the Florida Panhandle, causing mass destruction throughout the area. Following the storm, most of the structure was found to have been destroyed. The church is located on one of the highest points in central Marianna and remains a main focal point in the city. Despite its destroyed state, the church is currently undergoing restoration.

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