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History of the West End Congregation

A modern day Atlantan, dropped into the Atlanta of 1905, would be greeted by a bewildering sight and a very different society. Atlanta was no big metropolis then. In fact it lagged far behind such thriving cities as Nashville, a center of learning, and Birmingham, an industrial giant. It was horse and buggy days, though the Ford Model A had made its way to Atlanta streets. Times were bad; joblessness was high, as the country struggled to recover from the economic crash in the mid 1890's. About four out of every five African Americans in those days were rural, mostly farmers, and many of the rest who made their way to cities like Atlanta were marginal workers looking for opportunity. Society was strictly segregated, lynchings were common, and in 1906 Atlanta had one of the bloodiest race riots in national history, resulting in a dozen deaths. Women could not vote, and in fact would not get suffrage for 15 more years, when the 19th Amendment was passed in 1920.

On the positive side of the ledger, Alonzo Franklin Herndon, a former slave, founded Atlanta Life, which would grow to become one of the largest African American-owned businesses in the United States.

In those challenging times, the Holy Spirit moved. And out of that rough soil, a tender plant sprouted. Brethren and sisters of that day read and respected the Bible, and resolved to worship God as the Bible commanded. They taught others, and started in a house what became the West End Church of Christ.

It all began for West End at the turn of the century when, in 1901, two Christian families, including O.D. Bearden and his family, came to Atlanta from Nashville and started meeting in the Bearden home for Bible classes and worship. Four years later, Brother Bearden, persuaded his church back in Nashville to loan the enthusiastic believers a tent for a gospel meeting. Brother F.W. Smith came from Nashville to hold the meeting, and succeeded in adding several people to Christ's side. A faithful few, some 20 members, continued to worship in the tent weekly from May to November, until the Lord blessed them in a special way.

One of the members, A.P. McCravy, was moved to donate a lot for a church building, at the corner of West End Avenue and Wellborn Street SW, and extend a loan of $1,500 to launch the construction of a sanctuary. Construction began immediately, in time to be occupied before the end of 1905. It was, in some ways, the typical beginning of a new congregation. But for West End it was to be the first stitch in a pattern of starting new church works, and working to spread the gospel through missions to other communities and towns.

"It did set a pattern," said Brother Dewey Stephens, 91 (born April 12, 1914), one of the oldest living members affiliated with the early West End Church. “In many ways, we were to become the mother church of this whole area," said Brother Stephens, who was a West End member from 1929 to 1980, and an elder for 22 years.

Brother James A. Harding preached the first sermon in the new building, and the work continued with the help of itinerant or visiting speakers until the fall of 1906, when Bro. S.H. Hall came to town to hold a gospel meeting -- and stayed. He became the first permanent minister, and served 14 years, from January 1, 1907 to July 1920.

The years were productive. The church grew strong enough to begin the work on South Pryor Street in 1910, and then the East Point Church in 1911. South Pryor eventually became the Moreland Avenue church.

In its own church history, East Point describes how West End, through a powerful and sustained effort, launched the new work. The published history says:

"In the summer of 1911 West End sent its minister, S.H. Hall, to conduct a tent meeting. The meeting began in August 1911, and lasted five weeks. The meeting began and continued fifteen days, with preaching only at night, until the night of the 15th day, the third Lord's Day.” Then, in dramatic fashion, Brother Hall personally described what happened:

“Not a soul was moved, so far as could be seen, until that 15th night. A frail, emaciated woman came forward and made the statement to me – ‘preacher, my health is gone. I have tried all the doctors I know and I have found no relief. I have a number of small children and I do want so much to have my health restored for their sakes. Will you good people pray for me that my health may be restored’?”

That event proved to be the turning point for the meeting, and from then on everything went well. At the end of the meeting there were 150 additions, and 100 were baptisms. From that point on, the work continued and prospered. The red brick building East Point now occupies on Church Street was built in 1958.

On August 2, 1920 Brother Hall was succeeded by B.C. Goodpasture, who served for seven years. One of the notable highlights of his tenure actually occurred the week he left, when he held a meeting that fetched 104 additional members to the church.

Brother H. Clyde Hale, a young graduate of David Lipscomb College, became the next minister in 1927, and with youthful energy he pushed the work at West End to reach an important decision. The building became too small, and the leaders moved decisively to build a new one, by purchasing a lot at the corner of Gordon and Hopkins Streets. And the familiar red brick building, the one we use as an educational facility, was built in 1928. The first service was held February 19, 1929.

The year 1929 is world famous for the great stock market crash in October that launched the Great Depression. The big economic bust crippled industry and forced plantations to fail, driving African American workers and sharecroppers from the soil and toward the cities. But the year of economic failure was one of prosperity for the church. Brother Hale and the five elders launch a citywide evangelistic campaign, holding tent meetings in the communities and in towns across the state.

The wave of evangelism lasted for the next two years, culminating in one of the greatest gospel meetings of the time. The famous Evangelist Marshall Keeble, one of the great preachers of the 20th century, held it on the corner of Simpson and Newport Streets. His four-week meeting packed in crowds rarely seen before, and resulted in the addition of 160 new souls for Christ. With that triumphant work for the Savior, West End was instrumental in establishing the Simpson Street Church of Christ for "the colored brethren." In turn,
Simpson, which was supported and guided by West End in its early years, assumed its own power and eventually started Turner Road Church of Christ as part of its own outreach program. Because of that pioneering work, and the later contributions of Evangelist Alonzo Rose, Simpson Street would become the face of black Christianity in Atlanta, known all across the country. Only later, during the last two decades, would West End surpass Simpson Street to become clearly the largest black congregation in the state.

There were big events in the early 1940's. Delta Air Lines was founded in 1941. And the great World War II exploded December 7, 1941 and dominated news for half the decade. West End was busy throughout, establishing missionary works in north Atlanta and elsewhere in the state. The congregation was an early financial supporter of "The Herald of Truth," a prominent nationally broadcast weekly program of a cappella singing and powerful sermons by James Nichols and E.R. Harper, and the legendary orator with the lilting name, Batsell Barrett Baxter. Many Christians heard some of their first gospel sermons on the Herald of Truth, and one of them was Wesley Brown, growing up in Baltimore, MD. “I used to listen to James Nichols and E.R. Harper, and those sermons converted me," said Bro. Wesley. "I was baptized, as a result of that work, in September of 1953."

In a rather early innovation, West End produced its own weekly local radio program in Atlanta, featuring a singing quartet, with two members being husband and wife, Dewey and Grace Stephens. The radio program was part of the ceaseless outreach efforts by the church over the years. And it took many forms. Not only did the church work hard to help other congregations and mission works, it was also an early supporter and factor in the launch of a summer camp for Christian youth, and also Greater Atlanta Christian School. As recorded in
church bulletins from 1973, the church conducted newspaper drives to raise money for the school and also invested in bonds to help finance GACS capital needs.

Among the succession of preachers at West End following Clyde Hale, who served 16 years, were Howard Allen (3), Franklin T. Puckett (5), J. Ed Nowlin (7), A.R. Hill (4) and J.V. Copeland, the minister who
served 11 years before handing the baton to Wesley Brown in 1974. Brother Brown, who has been minister for 31 years, has by far the longest tenure.

In the 1960's there was a dramatic, bitter and at times violent turnover in the population of the Cascade community west of West End, when the all-white community saw its first incursion of black residents. In rather short order white flight saw a changeover in the population from white to mixed, and then to a predominantly black in community composition.

In an historic church bulletin, which the leadership said would be "the last edition of the West Ender," dated December 11, 1973, the church explained why Wesley Brown seemed a good candidate to lead the church in transition. The notice about the end of The West Ender proved incorrect, because the bulletin still exists. But the prophecy about Brother Brown and his strengths Brown proved to be more accurate. First, the church laid out the reason for the plan to have Brother Brown succeed Brother Copeland:

"Inasmuch as the community has changed so radically, the time has come when the elders feel that some changes in the church are mandatory. The decision to employ a minister from the Black race has been made. It is with much joy and a great amount of pleasure that we announce that the next preacher at West End will be Brother Wesley R. Brown. He is held in high esteem by both white and black Christians across the country."
Brother Brown, at the time, was minister of Turner Road Church of Christ and had held that position for 15 years.

Continuing, the West Ender reported:

“He (Bro Brown) is a good Bible student, a sound gospel preacher, a very humble character but an energetic worker for the Lord. Any work in which Brother Brown takes a part will be Scriptural and what he does will be done well."

The observation about Brother Brown’s strict compliance with the Bible and his boundless energy, of course, echo the 100-year tradition of the church whose first leaders praised faithfulness to the Scriptures. Brother Dewey Stephens, who was instrumental in choosing Brother Brown to succeed Brother Copeland, said in an interview in his Smyrna home, "Brother Wesley was so knowledgeable, but he also had the kind of demeanor to suit the church at that special time."

Brother Robert Chatman, who was a trustee for many years, and Sister Willia Barkley, came to West End at roughly the same time as Brother Wesley Brown, and both knew both him and Brother Stephens.

“Brother Stephens was very astute and very much a Christian-hearted man," said Brother Chatman. "I learned to respect him a lot." Regarding Brother Brown, whom she has known for the full 31 years of his tenure, Sister Barkley says:

“He is humble and very steady, and that is his strength. If he gets upset, you don't notice it. Have you noticed how much he loves children, and how much they love him? In a way he imitates the habit of the child -- he may admonish you, and be upset with you, but moments later you are back in his graces, as if nothing happened. He
is forgiving."

Dorothy Griffin remembers transferring her membership from Turner Road to West End in the spring of 1973, nearly a year before Wesley Brown was to give in and answer the call of the West End elders. She came to West End along with Clark Tyler, who had been an assistant minister to Bro. Brown at Turner Road.

“West End had made it known it was very interested in more black members,” Sister Griffin said. “And so I was one of several to respond, along with Brother Tyler, who did some speaking. But West End leaders made it plain, they would be not be satisfied until they persuaded Brother Wesley to relocate. Brother Brown, who had just dedicated the new sanctuary on Turner Road, finally relented and came over, and gradually phased in as Brother J. V. Copeland, Jr. wound down and left in March, 1974.

Bro. Andrew Hairston, minister of the Simpson Street church, was a schoolmate of Barbara and Wesley Brown at Southwestern Christian College, and has known his friend Wesley for more than 50 years. Asked to assess Wesley Browns secret for success, he said:

“Wesley Brown is a very outgoing person…” He is very attentive to people, especially his members, and people are impressed with his Christian example.” Bro. Hairston, however, could not resist a jovial dig at his friend.

“Brother Wesley is without a doubt the senior minister in Atlanta among African American preachers, but I am the senior congregational ministers,” he said with a laugh. Bro. Hairston has been leader of the Simpson Street church for more than 45 years, and Bro. Wesley has been minister of West End for 31 years. Nonetheless, Brother Hairston says, Wesley was already in Atlanta when he arrived, and he lived with Wesley and Barbara until he got his own home.

In the aftermath of the change to the Wesley Brown era, Brother Brown, served as both minister and as an elder, along with Brothers C.T. Ragsdale, Jr. and Stephens. Brother Ragsdale left West End in the late 1970’s and Brother Stephens relocated in 1980.

Meanwhile, Simpson Street, which was founded by West End, returned the favor when Robert Freeman and Anderson Davis relocated to West End with Brother Brown to serve as the backbone of leadership into the 1980’s and beyond.

In the ensuing years, true to the West End tradition, the church has started missionary works elsewhere, including the Schaffer Road church in Cobb County, launched on January 3, 1999 as the South Marietta Church of Christ where Marcus Oaks was the first minister. A church in Douglasville in the winter of 1997, headed by Gaylon Rogers. And another in Locust Grove, Georgia, where popular assistant minister Barry May, relocated to assume leadership on May 5, 2002.

Historically the membership of West End has fluctuated between 200 and 400 or so over 100-year existence of the work here in southwest Atlanta. "The church was never more than 400 before the transition," Brother Stephens said.

The church started a curve of growth at the time of Brother Brown’s 20th anniversary when West End moved into a brand new $1.2 million edifice, seating some 770 people in a bright, airy high-domed sanctuary. The dream was that the new building would anchor a campus that would later include a large, attached educational facility, but zoning restrictions have curtailed that plan so far.

However, shortly after the turn of this new century, under the guidance of the elders the church made several moves that have lifted the church to a higher plateau in attendance and interest. The first was the development of new educational ideas, and new forms of organization that created committees pursuing particular goals, such as outreach, communications, youth activities and others. The new systems have appeared to stir more activity, and more interest.

The other has been the arrival of Orpheus and Sony Heyward, with New York-born Brother Heyward as full time assistance minister. Youthful, energetic, scholarly and charismatic, Brother Heyward has touched a special chord with the members, especially young adults, and he has stimulated ever-greater interest in the Bible.

As to the future, West End looks forward to building a new meeting place for worship with expanded seating in the range of 1600 to 1800, with 33 classrooms and a fellowship hall, according to Elder, I. David Logan.

“Depending on our ability to build bigger facilities, the elders also envision a Christian child care program and perhaps a charter school,” Brother Logan said.

Together Brother Brown, Brother Heyward and the elders have made stronger than ever the church's commitment to a Christ-centered work, true to the Bible, doing Bible things in Bible ways. And, doing the Lord’s work the Lord’s way, the church attendance has soared to the greatest heights in the 100-year history of the congregation.

In 2008, Wesley Brown relinquished his position as an elder at West End to assume the full time work of pulpit minister at the Moreland Avenue Church of Christ in Atlanta, GA. He remains as West End's minister emeritus.