Atlanta’s spiritual community is as diverse as its population from around the country and the globe. In addition to its traditional Bible Belt congregations, you’ll find most Christian denominations and Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist faiths as well as smaller organizations practicing in the metropolitan area.
The city’s proclivity for the graceful melding of cultures displays itself in churches for Vietnamese Catholics, Hispanic Seventh-Day Adventists, Chinese Baptists, and Korean Presbyterians. The city is home to a number of mosques and Buddhist and Hindu temples. A cluster of Russian Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, and Coptic churches give their members an opportunity to practice traditions and rituals.
Community efforts toward interfaith action are commonplace. Three Downtown churches jointly celebrate Palm Sunday with a procession of members bearing colorful banners and palms, accompanied by hymns and music from all three liturgies. The original buildings of these churches—Trinity Methodist, Central Presbyterian, and The Shrine of the Immaculate Conception—shared salvation from General William Tecumseh Sherman’s torches because of the persuasive powers of Father Thomas O’Reilly, the shrine’s pastor. Ecumenical efforts among Atlanta’s synagogues, temples, and churches include building community centers, operating homeless shelters, and working to promote harmony among Atlantans.
The most famous church in Atlanta is Ebenezer Baptist Church on Auburn Avenue. The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., the famed civil rights worker and Nobel Peace Prize–winner, preached there, as did his father, the Reverend Martin Luther King Sr. The church is part of the King Historic District and is adjacent to the King Center.
Besides Ebenezer Baptist, you’ll find other influential, predominantly African-American churches along and near Auburn Avenue, the historical setting of thriving entrepreneurship among African Americans. Churches in this area include the Wheat Street Baptist Church; Big Bethel AME Church, which was founded in 1847 by slaves; and many others. Big Bethel is the oldest predominantly African-American congregation in the metro area. In 1870 church members formed the Daughters of Bethel Benevolent Society. Cited by W. E. B. DuBois as one of the first examples of economic cooperation among blacks, the Daughters cared for sick and aging ex-slaves. In 1880 the first public school classes for black children were held in “Old Bethel,” the church the congregation used before building Big Bethel.
Another noted place of worship is The Temple, the area’s best-known synagogue and home to a Reform congregation, on Peachtree Street. It was the site of the infamous 1958 bombing, which became the topic of the book The Temple Bombing by Melissa Fay Greene. The incident, blamed on Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi sympathizers, came at a time when racial integration was being implemented in the South. It challenged Atlanta’s violence-free reputation and helped create a civil rights alliance between Jews and African Americans. The bombing also was mentioned in the play and movie Driving Miss Daisy. The building was designed by noted Atlanta architect Philip Shutze. Other prominent synagogues in the Atlanta area include Ahavath Achim (Conservative), Or VeShalom (Sephardic, traditional), and Beth Jacob (Orthodox). There is also the Chabad Outreach Center for Hasidic studies.
In Buckhead, the Episcopal Cathedral of St. Philip stands on a majestic rise above Peachtree Road. This congregation dates back to 1847, and the current cathedral was built in 1962. The church is the headquarters for the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta.
Across the street you’ll find the Catholic Cathedral of Christ the King, headquarters for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Atlanta. Farther north on Roswell Road, Peachtree Presbyterian Church is the nation’s largest Presbyterian congregation with more than 8,400 members.
In addition to those denominations, several others, including Methodists, Seventh-Day Adventists, Baptists, and Lutherans, have regional headquarters or offices in Atlanta. In addition, numerous Christian and Jewish organizations, as well as mission, business, and youth religious groups, are based here.
Greek Orthodox followers meet at Cathedral of The Annunciation. Each fall the church stages an elaborate Greek festival (see Annual Events and Festivals) to raise money to support church activities.
The Religious Society of Friends, more commonly known as the Quakers, meets in Decatur. True to its heritage of involvement in civil rights, it provided a meeting place during the height of the integration movement in the ’60s for Martin Luther King Jr., Andrew Young, and high school students who later peacefully integrated the schools in Atlanta.
Atlanta’s gay community supports several congregations whose primary ministry is to lesbian and gay Christians. Among them are First Metropolitan Community Church of Atlanta, All Saints Metropolitan Community Church, and Bet Haverim synagogue.
Churches are an integral part of Southern culture, but Atlanta’s diverse population seeks spiritual comfort in a variety of ways.
In 2008, the Atlanta Muslim community celebrated the opening of the massive Al Farooq Masjid in Homewood Park. Costing more than $10 million, the 46,000-square-foot mosque took more than 10 years to build. Baha’i followers meet in Stone Mountain, and Zen Buddhist meditation is practiced at the Frazer Center in Atlanta. Students and followers of Tibetan Buddhism established a center in northeast Atlanta in 1991, at the behest of the Dalai Lama of Tibet himself. The Drepung Loseling Institute, now affiliated with the Department of Buddhist Studies of Emory University, attracts regular visits from both the Dalai Lama and other noted monks and teachers.
Of course, this is just a sampling of the options available. For a more complete list of Atlanta’s worship opportunities, check the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The weekend edition carries religious articles and advertisements for services. In addition, the “freebies” newspaper racks in front of most bookstores, grocery stores, and urban markets have a host of religious-oriented announcements, newsletters, booklets, and even full-length newspapers, such as the monthly New Age publication Aquarius. The fact that Atlanta sits in the very “buckle” of the Southern Bible Belt ensures that one should not have any problem at all finding an appropriate place of worship.