Allen Temple Baptist Church

Allen Temple Baptist Church was organized in 1919 as a Northern Baptist mission by the Reverend J. L. Allen. The church was originally located in a storefront on the corner of East 14th and Seminary Avenue in East Oakland. There were 21 original members and the modest congregation conducted services using borrowed folding chairs for seating. The church subsequently moved to a house on 85th Avenue and was known as the 85th Avenue Baptist Church. Seven years later after J. D. Wilson and R.H. Thomas had served sacrificially as mission pastors under the Northern Baptist Convention; the membership changed its name to the Allen Temple Baptist Church. During this period, the congregation and its pastors began to forge its identity in the area of social justice through active involvement in the NAACP and the Marcus Garvey movement. Under the leadership of Pastor G.W. Wildy, the church broke ground on October 29, 1939 for the building of a small chapel. During this administration, great pastoral work was done to foster Christian fellowship across racial lines. Allen Temple continued to mature under the polished and disciplined leadership of Pastor A. L. Carpenter and during the tenure of his successor, the Reverend Doctor C.C. Bailey, the church broke ground on July 17, 1960 for a sanctuary (which seated 550) and an educational facility. Pastor Bailey was a distinguished young pastor who broadened the congregation’s witness in the larger community as he led the effort to bring an Opportunities Industrial Center (OIC) to Oakland to provide vocational training for the unemployed. He also partnered with the Oakland Public Schools to provide an Adult Education Neighborhood Center at Allen Temple.

During the dynamic, visionary leadership of Doctor J. Alfred Smith, Senior, Allen Temple has grown to a membership of 5,500 and has developed a large array of holistic community ministries focussed on redeeming and transforming the whole person and the whole community. To administer this ever-growing ministry, Pastor Smith has assembled a strong pastoral staff including Co Pastor J. Alfred Smith, Jr. During this administration, the congregation has constructed a 1,200 seat sanctuary to accommodate two Sunday morning worship services. The 8:00 a.m. service often requires the usage of overflow seating for 300-400 worshipers in the fellowship hall. Also, the church has secured all of the property on the square block it occupies, and is scheduled to dedicate a 64,000 square foot Family Life Center in April of 1999. In addition, the Allen Temple Economic Development and Housing Corporation has constructed two senior citizen housing complexes, which contain a total of 126 apartment units and is scheduled to open two additional facilities in 1999. The two facilities include 50 more apartments for senior citizens and 24 apartment units for the disabled and people living with HIV and AIDS.

The church now has dually-aligned membership with the Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc., and the American Baptist Churches, USA. Certainly, the many outreach ministries, overseas mission activities, and evangelism and discipleship ministries attest to the profound Christian witness of the Holy Spirit operating through the instrumentality of Senior Pastor J. Alfred Smith, Sr., Co Pastor J. Alfred Smith, Jr., and the Allen Temple family. Allen Temple is challenged to never forget its humble roots, going back to the year 1919, when 21 members first met for worship in an East Oakland storefront.

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