During the time when it was illegal for enslaved Black people to gather or preach without permission from a white person, Asa Cruger Goldsbury started a Baptist church.
Goldsbury, an evangelist and free person of color, founded the First African Baptist Church in New Orleans in 1826. It is the oldest Black Baptist church in the city.
Goldsbury “had high commendations from pastors in Massachusetts and Connecticut and served on the Board of the African Union Meeting and School House in Providence, RI.,” the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (NOBTS) states…