The Greenwood Church movement grew out of the Sunday School organized in the North Greenwood neighborhood some time prior to 1903 by M. B. Stevens. He was an instructor in the Printing Division of Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute (now Tuskegee University). The success of the Sunday School created the desire to start a church. Booker T. Washington, president of Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, was impressed with the work of Mr. Stevens, and he offered to give the interest group any lot of their choice provided the church would be located in South Greenwood. Thus in 1903, the Reverend William Dancer, assisted by Mr. Stevens, called the group together and organized the Greenwood Baptist Church. Rev. Dancer became the pastor and Mr. Stevens served as the founding deacon and the first chairman of the Board of Deacons (1903 - 1925). 

 

In 1905, the group began its new church home on the lot located on Washington Avenue at Taylor Street and Clark Avenue (site of the present parsonage). Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute donated the lot as promised and loaned money for the construction of the building. It was dedicated in 1906. 

 

From 1907 - 1912, pulpit leadership was provided by the Phelps Bible School, a department at Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute. Those serving during the period included: the Reverend M. Jones, a volunteer to the membership of about thirty-seven (37) and a Sunday School numbering eighty (80); Dr. A. F. Owens, Dean of Phelps Bible School, who increased the Deacon Board to five (5) members and established regular contributions to Selma University. The Reverend A. W. Puller served a part of 1910 and 1911. 

 

In 1912, the Reverend Woodford S. Smith, a teacher in the Phelps Bible School, accepted a call to serve as pastor and in June, Greenwood Baptist and the Institute were joint hosts to the National Baptist Sunday School Congress. Reverend Smith led the congregation in the rebuilding of the church in 1915 and served as pastor until May 1918, after which, Reverend Jonas P. Turner served until the church called the Reverend Charles W. Kelly. 

 

During the Kelly Administration (1920 -1953), the membership grew from one hundred (100) to more than five hundred (500); a new edifice was built in 1951 at a cost of $52,000 with furnishing and appointments costing $18,000. In 1953, Reverend Kelly became ill and the Reverend V.A. Edwards served until the summer of 1954, when the Reverend Raymond F. Harvey was called to the pastorate. 

 

Reverend Harvey served the church and community faithfully for more than thirty-six (36) years (September 1954 - March 1991). He led the congregation in a building program which included (a) erecting the parsonage at a cost of $24,000 in 1958, (b) constructing the Kelly-Smith House (the education annex) at a cost of $279,000 in 1968, and (c) renovating the church sanctuary in 1980. He implemented an annual study course for church workers which lasted at least 17 years and in 1967 he established the Memorial Education Fund. 

The membership voted to rename this fund the Raymond Francis Harvey Memorial Educational Fund in June 1994. 

 

On September 15, 1991, the Reverend Reginald Porter, Sr. was elected pastor and assumed full-time pastoral duties on January 1, 1992. Dr. Porter served the church and community faithfully until June 30, 1998. During Dr. Porter’s leadership, there were several new programs and structural changes which included: (1) new members’ orientation class, live outdoor Easter and Christmas scenes, and adopt-a-school program; (2) renaming the Kelly-Smith House Auditorium the Lee Roy Brown Fellowship Hall in memory of Deacon Brown who served as chairman of the Deacon Board for forty plus years; and (3) launching the expansion of the Kelly-Smith House and church facilities in 1998. 

 

During the interim in 1998 and 1999 before the election of a new pastor, two ministers served as Interim Co-pastors: Chaplain Byron D. Long, Manager of Pastor Care for Central Alabama Veterans Affairs Health Care System and Dr. Carl H. Marbury, Director of Alabama Black History Project and Professor of Humanities at Alabama State University. 

 

On September 5, 1999, the Reverend John L. Cantelow, III was elected pastor, and he assumed full-time pastoral responsibilities on October 1, 1999. Pastor Cantelow was very active in the community and served Greenwood faithfully until July 19, 2011. Under his leadership several new ministries were initiated; (2) new deacons were ordained; (3) a debt-free campaign was completed to eliminate the mortgage created by the expansion of the Kelly-Smith House; (4) the church acquired the property adjacent to the Kelly-Smith House; (5) the church by-laws were updated and approved by deacons in 2008 and (6) a computer network was established for membership and ministry records as well as records of all financial transactions. This allowed for financial records to always be available for review by leadership. The membership continued to grow as many souls joined the body of Christ at Greenwood. 

 

During the interim in 2011 and 2012, Reverend Dr. Gregory S. Gray, Dean of the Chapel at Tuskegee University, served as interim pastor. Dr. Gray’s two associates were Dr. Wylin Dassie-Wilson, Associate Director of Education and Associate Professor of the National Center for Bioethics in Research and Health Care at Tuskegee University, and Dr. Beverly Cox, Associate Professor at Tuskegee University. 

 

On September 9, 2012, the Reverend Harold H. Lusk, Sr. was elected pastor and assumed full-time pastoral duties on October 7, 2012. Under his tenure, eight new deacons were ordained. Community churches were regularly invited to participate with Greenwood in various special services. He was active with the Macon County Ministers’ Council, the Macon County Department of Human Resources and Booker T. Washington High School. He was the featured speaker at many local events. Rev. Lusk served the church and community faithfully until May 6, 2018.