About US

The Greater Fellowship Baptist Church was organized in the year 1924 on Markham and Haynes streets under the leadership of The late Reverend J.O. Holmes. Under his leadership, the church grew and moved to 151 Vine Street two (2) years later. Reverend Holmes served for several years. After Reverend Holmes' pastorate, the church had several Pastors.

In 1942, the prayers of the Church were answered. The Lord sent The late Reverend T.N. Nelson and the Church called him as Pastor. Greater Fellowship grew and prospered under his leadership. In June of 1961, the Church purchased a building at 11 Randolph Street. Reverend Nelson faithfully served for 27 years until the Lord called him home to rest in January 1969.

In July 1969, the Church called The late Reverend A. Ganious. He served for a brief period and again the Church went into prayer that God would send a righteous leader. The Church called The late Reverend G.B. Benjamin in November 1970. He served for eleven (11) years. Under his leadership, many were added to the Church membership and he organized three (3) auxiliaries. In December 1972, the Church mortgage was paid in full and in December 1973 a parking lot was added behind the Church building.

In 1981, after the resignation of Reverend Benjamin the Church was again in prayer for a Pastor. The late Reverend Raphael Woods served as Pastor for 9 1/2 years. Upon his resignation in 1989, the Church was again in prayer for a Pastor.

In February 1990, prayers were answered and the Lord sent our current Pastor, The Reverend Stanley A. Smith, M.Div. Under his leadership, several new members have come, former members have rejoined and countless souls have been saved. Several new auxiliaries were organized, including the Junior Usher Board, Layman's Ministry, Male Chorus (now known as the GFBC Men of Praise), Ministerial Staff, Courtesy Guild and the Pastor's Aide Committee. The Children's Choir was reorganized under the leadership of Sister Linda Johnson and Sister Glenda Christine Longino and is now known as The Lights of Fellowship, also an Adult Praise Team was organized in 2013, the Stewards Ministry was formed in 2018 as well as a Young Adult Praise Team in that same year. In February of 2019, the Pastor's Aide Committee was dissolved as Pastor Smith newly organized the Pastor's Support Ministry to be a part of his team and in June 2019, the Pastor's 30th Anniversary Committee was hand-selected by our Pastor and is currently known as his Blue Ribbon Committee.

Under his pastorate, several Deacons have been ordained, three (3) Ministers of the Gospel have been licensed and ordained and two (2) Ministers of the Gospel have been licensed.

During the time the Church was without a building, God created a special alliance and fellowship between Greater Fellowship Baptist Church and Gethsemane Temple United Holy Church of America. Elder Gordon R. Witcher, Pastor of Gethsemane Temple UHC, opened his Church doors to us so that we could worship in a consecrated building. The friendship and bond grew over the years.

Pastor Smith has seen the Church through several pivotal events in our history: the selling of our Church building on Randolph Street; the purchase and sale of land in southwest Atlanta; Worship Services in a school and later the Social House and Gethsemane Temple UHC; the purchase of the property at our present location in Decatur; and the subsequent construction of our current Church building. Since our construction, there have been several improvements including sidewalks and streetlights. The most notable project, aside from the construction of our building, is the complete bricking of our building.

Pastor Smith encouraged the Church to form partnerships with like-minded organizations such as the Mt. Hermon Missionary Baptist Association, the Metropolitan Atlanta Baptist Ministers Union, the New Era Missionary Baptist Convention of Ga., Inc. and the Progressive National Baptist Convention. Through these organizations, we have become more involved in programs and ministries that are of service to the church, our surrounding communities and abroad.

On Sunday May 19, 2019 the Greater Fellowship Baptist Church celebrated by giving God all of the Glory and Praise for our church mortgage being PAID IN FULL! On this same day, we also celebrated 95 years of Church history and burned the mortgage.

In March 2020, Church as we knew it changed forever due to the shutdown of many businesses, Churches and other places where people gather in the United States during the world-wide pandemic of COVID-19. There were no gatherings of more than 10 people allowed for safety purposes. Our last in-person Worship Service was held on March 15, 2020 but GFBC did not miss a beat! We began Live Streaming of our Worship Services on March 22, 2020 via Facebook and YouTube platforms. The GFBC Audio/Visual Team was formed with Brother Christopher Smith and Sister Selethia D. Smith serving faithfully every Sunday throughout the pandemic. We have continued our outreach to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ through Live Streaming even after we fully re-opened for our in-person services on April 10, 2022 (Palm Sunday).

We praise God for keeping Greater Fellowship alive. We are truly grateful to God for continually  blessing us, leading us through His vision, and for all He has done, is doing and will do in the lives of the Congregation of the Greater Fellowship Baptist Church and our community.

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Pastor Smith appointed the Church's first Assistant Pastor in February 1997; Assistant Pastor Jo-ann R. Murphy. She served in that capacity until January 2018, Reverend Murphy was then given the honor of being named Assistant Pastor Emeritus by Pastor Smith. On that same day, Reverend Rickey Longino was appointed as the new Assistant Pastor under the leadership of Pastor Smith. 

On June 27, 2020 our hearts were saddened and broken upon learning that our Assistant Pastor, the Reverend Rickey Longino had transitioned into the loving arms of our Lord and Savior, Jesus, the Christ. Reverend Longino was so much to so many and was eagerly in service to his Church and his Pastor.  He faithfully served Greater Fellowship with his heart, mind and body for over 30 years. Among the many ways he touched the lives of God's people was serving as the Superintendent of our Sunday School for many years, he sang with the GFBC Adult Praise Team, he served as the Lead for the GFBC Men of Praise Male Chorus and he tirelessly worked around the Church building completing projects that needed to be addressed. No matter when you would see him, he would always greet you with a smile.

On February 8, 2021 our hearts were saddened and broken once again upon learning that our Assistant Pastor Emeritus, the Reverend Jo-ann R. Murphy had  transitioned into the loving arms of our Lord and Savor, Jesus, the Christ. Reverend Murphy was faithful in her support of the Church, the Pastor and God's people. She was an educator who touched the lives of many children throughout her career as well as taught and touched many through Christian Education at Greater Fellowship. She served faithfully on the Ministerial Staff, the Sunday School staff, she sang with the Voices of Fellowship and was one of the best dressed and most eloquent women the members of Fellowship could ever cross paths with. Reverend Murphy always had a piece of advice to offer and always offered it with a smile.

                             Interesting Facts About GFBC

In 2011, our Vacation Bible School Youth Retreat was a trip to Washington D.C. to see the White House, where the first African-American President of the United States of America, President Barack H. Obama, resided and to visit the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, the first such memorial erected to honor an African-American. Every year that GFBC sponsored VBS, it was an all-day, week-long session for the youth of GFBC and the community that always incorporated our partnership with the Mt. Hermon MBA Congress of Christian Education, music, arts and crafts, life skills classes and a field trip at the end of the week to culminate the session. 

In 2016, the Church purchased a 22 passenger bus to aid in our Transportation Ministry. Also in 2016, in an effort to have fun and exercise, Greater Fellowship Baptist Church formed its first Co-Ed Softball Team aptly named the GFBC All-Stars under the coordination of Brother Christopher A. Smith.