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The congregation initially met in a store at the corner of Boulevard and Cooledge Avenue. They moved to a permanent building on the corner of Virginia Avenue and Ponce de Leon Place in 1924. As Atlanta grew, so did Virginia Avenue Baptist Church.
Shortly after the twenty-fifth anniversary of its founding, the church began construction on a new, brick sanctuary at the Virginia Avenue-Ponce Place intersection. The first service in the new building was held on March 5, 1950. The church still worships in this building. The attached three-story educational building, which houses church offices and Sunday School classes, was completed in 1955.
The Reverend J. Omer Jones served as the pastor of Virginia Avenue Baptist Church from 1941 to 1968. During his tenure, the church grew exponentially, rapidly filling its new facilities. The choir, under the direction of Marie Newton, grew likewise and was widely regarded as one of the finest choirs in the Southern Baptist Convention. Times change, and so do neighborhoods. In the 1970's and 1980's, the "suburbs" of Atlanta moved thirty miles farther in every direction. Many families moved with them, and urban churches of all varieties dwindled. Many closed their doors, and Virginia Avenue might well have done the same.
The members of the church, however, were committed to staying and serving their community. Under the leadership of the Reverend Timothy W. Shirley - who arrived on March 1, 1990 - the church made significant changes. On October 28, 1990 they ordained women to the Diaconate for the first time. In January of 1992, the church changed its name to Virginia-Highland Baptist Church to reflect its connection with the neighborhood it serves.
Perhaps the most significant indication of that connection came in 1993 when the church declared itself an "inclusive community of faith where everyone is welcome." In an area heavily populated with gay and lesbian professionals, this meant re-evaluating the church's historic opposition to homosexuality. At that time, Virginia-Highland took the courageous stance of becoming a place where gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and transgender Christians can be welcomed and affirmed; and where they can be fully participating members of the church. As Virginia-Highland Baptist Church was working to become more inclusive, the Southern Baptist Convention was becoming more exclusive. In 1992, Virginia-Highland severed its long-standing relationship with the SBC. In 1999, the Georgia Baptist Convention voted to withdraw fellowship from VHBC. In 2002 VHBC voluntarily withdrew from the Atlanta Baptist Association after that association's decision not to expel the church led the SBC to threaten to withdraw funding.
A baptist church certainly needs no larger affiliations to function effectively. Nevertheless, Virginia-Highland church was committed to preserving accountability and collegiality with other baptist bodies. It did so by being one of the first churches to join the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (1992) and then later joined the Alliance of Baptists (1996). Virginia-Highland church cherishes these baptist relationships and is proud of its baptist heritage and baptist witness. As part of a strong dedication to ecumenism, the church also joined the United Church of Christ in 2002. To reflect its new, ecumenical identity the church changed its name a final time to Virginia-Highland Church, a Baptist and United Church of Christ Congregation.
In 2001 VHC also completed the renovation of its sanctuary, a multi-stage process which included extending and dividing the chancel, replacing the ceiling, creating a lower platform, and replacing the carpet with acoustically vibrant tile. Thus Virginia-Highland enters the new century with a renewed commitment to serve its neighbors, and with new friends to help with that mission. |
