Established in 1865
We thank God for the small group of newly freed slaves who gathered to praise God and worship Him as freed men. This group, originally members of the First Baptist Church in Williamsburg, Virginia, organized themselves into a church to be known as Second Baptist Church; Reverend John Smith was named the first Pastor, he died in 1881. This small congregation moved from the courthouse to Butler School, later named Whittier School on the Hampton Institute campus, then subsequently to Shield's Tract. Pastor Smith advised the congregation to purchase land in the main district of Hampton to build a church. Thus, in 1875 a new church was constructed at a cost of $2,800 - a great accomplishment for people of color in those early days. This group organized into a Baptist Church to become known as the Second Baptist Church. The name of the Church was later changed to Queen Street Baptist Church upon which it is located. The church has experienced continuous spiritual progress under the leadership of:
Reverend John Smith (1865-1881)
Reverend Ebenezer Byrd (1881-1883)
Reverend Thomas H. Shorts (1883-1917)
Reverend J. A. Brown (1918-1929)
Reverend Berryman H. Johnson (1929-1934)
Rev. Dr. George S. Russell (1935-1966)
Reverend Calvin L. Jones (1966-1970)
Reverend Omie L. Holiday (1971-1975)
Reverend Marcus A. Pierce (1978-1988)
Rev. Dr. Anderson W. Clary, Jr. (1991-2014)
On June 9, 1991 Anderson W. Clary, Jr. was installed as the tenth Pastor and served the Church untiringly until his retirement effective June 30, 2014.
On January 18, 2015, the Church conferred on Rev. Anderson W. Clary, Jr. the status of “Pastor Emeritus.” In the period following Reverend Clary's retirement the Church was able to maintain some growth and carry on under the leadership of the Joint Official Ministry and Interim Pastor, Rev. Dr. Jacqueline T. Gholson (2015 -2017).
In the 154th year of the Church history, on April 20, 2019, at a duly called church conference Rev. Dr. Billy J. Hill was elected the eleventh Pastor of Queen Street Baptist Church on the first ballot. He preached his first sermon, as Pastor-Elect and officiated Holy Communion on the first Sunday in June 2019. Dr. Hill was officially installed as the 11th Pastor in October of 2019.
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