FlashBlack: Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church
The pews were full at the Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church in this October 2005 photo taken as congregation members celebrated the reopening of the church a year after Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne caused more than $1 million in damages. Staff photo by Carolyn Drake/The Palm Beach Post.
BY ELISA CRAMER
Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church was home to the first school for African Americans in Palm Beach County. Then located on what is now Clematis Street in downtown West Palm Beach, the school was overcrowded with 74 students on Oct. 1, 1894. So, the Superintendent of Schools arranged for two school terms of four months each.
That was one year after Tabernacle was organized in the Styx in Palm Beach, Fla., in October 1893. Now, 116 years later, under the leadership of the Rev. Gerald D. Kisner, Tabernacle continues to offer boys and girls and others in our community support, encouragement, education and tools to help them reach their God-given potential. The church is committed to building a two-story, 11,000-square-foot multi-purpose center in honor of the late Mr. Ulysses B. Kinsey, a dedicated member of Tabernacle and longtime principal and community leader for whom a nearby elementary school is named.
The church building has been destroyed by storms, displacing the congregation temporarily in 1902, 1928 and 2004, when Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne caused more than $1 million in damage to the church. But the congregation is resilient and committed to the Northwest Community in West Palm Beach and to empowering people throughout Palm Beach County.
Often called “God’s House on the Hill,” Tabernacle is a red brick church that sits at the intersection of 8th Street and Division Avenue, visible from many points in and near downtown West Palm Beach. The church offers a variety of services, including free hot breakfasts on Sunday mornings, educational forums throughout the year, youth festivals and resource fairs on topics from health to voting. Church school is every Sunday at 8:30 a.m. Worship services are Sundays at 10 a.m. Adult Bible Study is Tuesday at 7 p.m. Prayer and Praise Service is Wednesday at 7 p.m. Children’s Bible Study is offered some Saturdays each month, and Morning Bible Study is at 11 a.m. on the second and last Wednesdays of each month.
Everyone is welcome at Tabernacle (801 Eighth Street, West Palm Beach, FL 33401). Check out the church’s Web site or call (561) 832-8338 for more information.
