Mehal Sefari L49 EWFINC

Long before First African Baptist Church became the name known across Savannah, its story carried another powerful title:

The Ethiopian Church of Jesus Christ.

In January 1788, the congregation led by Rev. Andrew Bryan was formally recognized in Savannah under that name. The language matters. “Ethiopian” was being used within early Black Christian life as more than a reference to geography—it could carry ideas of African identity, biblical dignity, sacred belonging, and collective peoplehood.

That story also connects Savannah to Jamaica through George Liele, one of the earliest Black Baptist preachers in North America. After leaving Savannah during the closing period of the American Revolution, Liele continued his ministry in Jamaica, where the Black Baptist movement that developed around his work became associated with the name Ethiopian Baptists.

Over time, the Savannah congregation would be known by later names, including First Colored Church and First African Baptist Church. But the early record preserves something remarkable: the word Ethiopian stood at the beginning of this historic Black church tradition in Savannah.

From Savannah to Jamaica, this is a story of faith, survival, freedom, African consciousness, and the building of Black institutions in the Atlantic world.

The name changed. The legacy continued.

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