Gordon Chapel (1876-1967)

Gordon Chapel began in 1876 when a small group met in the home of Bell and John Rouse for prayer service and Sunday School. In about 1885, the group purchased land for church at this location across the street. Named after its first pastor, the Reverend Dave Gordon, Gordon Chapel was affiliated with the Methodist Church North. In 1923, led by the Reverend Henry P. Gorden, the congregation constructed the current historic building. Gordon Chapel played an active role in the Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968). Members Ernest "Rip" Patton, Joy Cordell, and Billy Reagon were Freedom Riders. Continued: Gordon Memorial United Methodist Church - In 1968 Gordon Chapel became Gordon Memorial United Methodist Church. Advocating equality and freedom, the Reverend Dr. Dogan Williams continued the church's involvement in the movement; it served as a meeting place for demonstration-strategy and training gatherings, and a citywide memorial service after the April 4, 1968, assassination of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Prior to Gordon's 150-year anniversary, under the Reverend Dr. Paula B. Smith, its first woman senior pastor, the congregation celebrated the mortgage burning and the dedication and renamed the historic building the Frank and Ethel Battle Annex.