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The First Baptist Church NBC has changed its name to honor its historical ties. It is now called the New Zion Baptist Church.
Photos provided by Pastor Colby Cotton
Historic church gets a new name
First Baptist Church NBC was established in 1866 by Reverend Moses Johns under the name Colored Baptist Church Zion, according to the current Pastor Colby Cotton. And to honor the church’s history – while also pushing it forward – Cotton will be changing the name to New Zion Baptist Church.
The church has been in its current location since 1986, at 420 S. Mitchell St., and Cotton said the interior of the church was recently renovated. The church will be receiving a name change to accompany its new look. Cotton said this move is meant to charge the church forward and continue to create history by embracing it and adding another milestone.
“Our original name was Colored Church Zion,” Cotton said, adding that he wants “to do a name change to honor our history and our legacy we were founded on. We know we can’t go back to the Colored Church of Zion – because we’re beyond that – but to go back to the word Zion … We’re the new people, but we’re still Zion. It represents the safeness of God, the glory of God. Everything that just resonates with God and people feeling his presence. And [it is] a place of refuge, strength and stability.”