Big Bethel AME Church

This guide to Big Bethel AME Church on Atlanta's Auburn Avenue starts with the 1923 fire that gutted its Victorian sanctuary, then reaches back to 1847, when enslaved members of a mixed congregation first won permission to build a place of their own. It follows the rebuilding under architect John Anderson Lankford, the church's role in Gate City School and radio station WERD, and the civil rights meetings that filled its sanctuary as Auburn Avenue became Sweet Auburn. You'll also hear about Heaven Bound, the folk pageant the congregation has staged every fall since 1930.