Salem Baptist Church (Chicago)

Salem Baptist Church
Country United States
Denomination Baptist
Website http://www.sbcoc.org/web/
History
Founder(s) James Meeks
Clergy
Senior pastor(s) James Meeks

The Salem Baptist Church is a Baptist megachurch located at 752 E 114th Street in the Pullman neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. The senior pastor is James Meeks.[1]

A 2008 survey by Outreach ranked the church as the 54th largest in the United States based on average weekly attendance of 9,137.[2]

History

On January 13, 1985, 193 people gathered in the Shiloh Baptist Church at 4840 South Dorchester Street, in Chicago under the direction of Rev. Gordon A. Humphrey, to organize a new church family. At the conclusion of the meeting, the group elected Rev. James T. Meeks to serve as pastor who selected the name Salem, meaning peace, because his heartfelt desire was for this new church to represent and preach peace to all people.

The new congregation held its first services January 20, 1985 at 8201 South Jeffrey Boulevard and remained at this location for five-years. In July it purchased the property that housed St. Salumea Catholic Church at 11800 South Indiana Avenue from its construction in 1913 until it closed in 1990.[3] The property included the rectory, convent and school and the congregation used it for 20 years.

House of Hope

The congregation currently meets in the House of Hope, a 10,000-seat facility opened in 2005 that can be used for worship services, sporting events, music concerts and other activities.[4] The venue has 203,000 sq ft (19,000 m2) of usable space.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Pastor James T. Meeks". Retrieved 2013-10-30.
  2. ↑ "Top 100 Largest Churches". Outreach. August 2008. Retrieved 2013-10-30.
  3. ↑ Archdiocese of Chicago (1980). "St. Salomea Church History". Polish Genealogical Society of America. Retrieved 2013-10-30.
  4. ↑ "About Us". Retrieved 2013-10-30.
  5. ↑ "Chicago megachurch opens doors for 10,000". USA Today. Associated Press. 4 July 2005. Retrieved 2013-10-30.


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