Look up at the brick façade of Ebenezer Baptist Church, spiritual home to three generations of the King family and one of the most significant religious sites in American history. The church was founded in 1886, and Martin Luther King Sr. — known as Daddy King — became its pastor in 1931, leading it for nearly half a century. His son Martin was ordained here as a minister at age 17, preached his first sermons from this pulpit, and remained co-pastor alongside his father even as his Civil Rights work took him across the nation.
Coretta Scott King's funeral was held here in 2006. The church was not merely a place of worship but an organizing center — a space where theology and justice were understood as inseparable, where the language of the gospel was translated directly into the language of protest and resistance. The congregation still holds services in a newer sanctuary next door, while the historic 1922 building is preserved by the National Park Service.
Step inside if it is open. Listen for the echo of sermons that shook a nation. From here, walk east to the King Center and memorial.