Church History

    Important Moments in First Baptist Church of Jeffersontown's History
                                         1833 - Present
            “For with God nothing shall be impossible.” Luke 1:37

The historic First Baptist Church of Jeffersontown (FBCJ), had its beginnings as part of the first church in Jeffersontown, called the “Union Church” which was located on the current site of FBCJ’s sanctuary. This parcel of land on Watterson Trail, known as “Lot 35”, was sold to the town in 1819 for this exclusive use by Phillip Zilhart, one of Jeffersontown’s original settlers. 

The “Union Church” was a simple structure intended to be shared by the town’s Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, and Presbyterians on a rotating basis. Although the parishioners were bi-racial, white congregants worshipped on the main floor, and Black congregants – most of whom were slaves – worshipped in the loft, “under supervision”. 

In 1833 Rev. Henry Adams, a distinguished free Black man, who rose to great prominence as a minister in the bi-racial First Baptist Church of Louisville and later founded the Fifth Street Baptist Church, journeyed out to establish churches throughout the region. Upon coming to Jeffersontown, Rev. Adams formally organized the Black Baptist members of the Union Church. It was Rev. Adams who installed Rev. Henry Summerfield, a former slave who bought his freedom in order to preach the gospel, as the first pastor of the reorganized Black Baptist congregation. 

After 1848, the Black Baptists were moved out of the Union Church to a segregated facility that they would share with Black Methodists. Known as the “Colored” Union Church, this facility was located a few blocks further south on Taylorsville Road. 

Over the years, the four remaining white denominations of the original Union Church moved on to establish their own sanctuaries elsewhere, leaving “Lot 35” vacant. Seeking to separate from the Black Methodists and return to their former location on Watterson Trail, in 1877 the Black Baptists purchased the vacant lot for $175 through their Trustees and eventually constructed a new sanctuary. This site has been the permanent home of FBCJ ever since. 

During FBCJ’s long history, the church has managed to survive and grow through good and bad, through the ravages of the Civil War years and the injustices of the Jim Crow era. At one point, the sanctuary was burned to the ground, reportedly by the Ku Klux Klan, but the members were undaunted and rebuilt the church, and it has continued to thrive for nearly two centuries. 

        Written by Carolyn Harris and Phillip W. Robinson