AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – For nearly two centuries, one church in Augusta has stood as both a spiritual home and a cornerstone of Black history.

Trinity Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, known as Mother Trinity, helped shape not only a denomination but generations of faith, leadership and culture. As the historic structure undergoes renovation, its story continues to inspire a new chapter.

Early beginnings under brush arbor

In 1840, before brick walls stood, faith did. That marked the beginning of Trinity CME Church, when 125 enslaved and free African Americans made a bold move to form their own place of worship, breaking away from St. John Methodist Church, a white church.

“They wanted to start their own congregation, so they marched to the new location and began worshipping under a brush arbor,” said Erik Montgomery, a local historian with Historic Augusta.

What started as a simple roof held up by tent poles became one of the earliest and most influential churches in the Christian Methodist Episcopal denomination.

“Trinity was the very first one, the mother church in the C.M.E. denomination, certainly in Georgia,” Montgomery said.

Place of refuge and dignity

Founded decades before the Emancipation Proclamation, Mother Trinity was viewed as a place of refuge and dignity.

“If you can imagine, where can I go to worship God and not sit in the balcony or be considered a second-class citizen? A church would allow that,” Montgomery said. Trinity was that place, and that same legacy lives inside Trinity’s current location on Glenn Hills Drive. The history of the original church is mounted along the walls there, with pictures telling the story of perseverance spread across generations. “Saving and preserving this historical and sacred treasure honors what matters most in our history. It honors our heritage and even our identity as African Americans,” said the Rev. Dr. Tommie Benjamin, current pastor of Trinity CME Church.

Connection to higher education

Local historian Joyce Law explained the connection of the C.M.E. church to colleges. she said the genesis of higher education sponsored by the C.M.E. church began with the incomparable interracial collaborative efforts with the local M.E. Church, South in 1882 to establish Paine College.

According to Law, the successful concept led to the organization and sustainment of Lane College in Nashville, Tennessee; Miles College in Birmingham, Alabama; and Texas College in Tyler, Texas, all before the end of the 19th century. Each of these institutions has produced a long list of regional and national leaders.

Environmental contamination forces move

Preserving that heritage came with a fight, beginning with where the church was built. The structure originally stood across the street from a gas plant where decades of coal burning contaminated the soil.

“They determined that this was unhealthy. It was getting to the point where it might reach the water table,” Montgomery said.

Montgomery said these gas plants weren’t just in Augusta but were in every community in the country. In Georgia, they were owned by Atlanta Gas Light, which started buying out property owners affected by contamination.

“Chief of which was Mother Trinity right across the street. They held on for a long time. Finally, they sold the property to Atlanta Gas Light,” Montgomery said.

Atlanta Gas Light tried to save the church. In 2003, the company performed a decontamination project on the church’s foundation. It forced members to vacate the building, but the project failed and the church has sat empty since then, moving worshippers to their current location on Glenn Hills Drive.

“So, I got involved and the director at that time of the Augusta Canal Authority got involved and in the end we basically prevailed. The building had to be moved,” Montgomery said.

Remarkable relocation saves sacred space

It was a remarkable move that captured headlines, saving a sacred space that many feared would be lost forever. Today the Augusta Canal Authority owns the building.

Leaders there are working to restore it, asking the community for ideas for what’s next while ensuring the history lives on. The current pastor of Trinity, the Rev. Dr. Tommie Benjamin, has sat in on those meetings.

“There were a lot of ideas thrown out but the thing that struck me the most, was making it some kind of tourism. Where people can come in and see the actual physical structure, see some historical artifacts and even bring the families in and just see the story of Trinity or hear the story of Trinity how it was established back in 1840 and how its rich heritage that still stands with us very strongly today,” Benjamin said.

Personal mission for current pastor

For Benjamin, carrying that story forward is deeply personal.

“As the 40th pastor here at Trinity, I stand on the shoulders of giants. Carrying the baton in this season is both a sacred honor and a deep blessing,” Benjamin said.

It’s a legacy leaders hope will continue to inspire the next generation.

“When young people learn about Mother Trinity, I hope they’ll discover what our ancestors knew — that faith in God makes the impossible possible,” Benjamin said.

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