Shekinah Tabernacle Baptist Church

On Wednesday night, December, 1993, on a damp wintry night, a small group of people met at the home of Sis. Sarah Fields for a special prayer meeting. Though small in number, the dedication and commitment was there! Despite the turn of events that had taken place in our lives, we were determined to go on with Jesus anyhow! There were a total of 24 present and that number included our present pastor, Pastor A.C. Stapleton. Pastor Stapleton was aware of our plight and was there to offer counseling and to do whatever he could to assist. After singing praying and listening to various testimonies, a discussion was held of a possible organization. Pastor Stapleton suggested that we meet and keep praying over the course of the next two Wednesday nights before making any type of decision. It was at this meeting that we adopted our theme song, “Joy, Joy We Still Have Joy.” On our second meeting, December 15, 1993, Pastor Stapleton shared with us that the Lord had given him a name, “Shekinah”, the visible sign of God’s presence – the glory of God, referencing II Chronicles 7th chapter. Shekinah Tabernacle Baptist Church later became our church’s name.

During the course of the next few weeks, we were rapidly growing out of the homes of Sis. Fields and Bro. & Sis. Bobby Watkins, where we were meeting. On Wednesday night, February 2, 1994, we held our first praise and worship service at the Singing Hills Chapel, located at 6621 Houston School Road.

The Shekinah Tabernacle Baptist Church was officially organized on Wednesday night, March 30, 1994 at the Concord Missionary Baptist Church, 3410 S. Polk Street, pastored by Rev. E.K. Bailey. Once organized, the Shekinah Tabernacle Baptist Church needed a pastor. Pastor A.C. Stapled was voted in by the members of Shekinah as Pastor. Our first Sunday service as Shekinah Tabernacle Baptist Church was held on Easter Sunday, April 3, 1994 at the Singing Hills Chapel. On Tuesday, April 5, 1994, the first Christian counseling meeting was held by Pastor Stapleton with the Shekinah Tabernacle Church family. The first member to unite with Shekinah was Steve Smith on April 10, 1994.

In May of 1994, Pastor Stapleton was contacted regarding a building located at 2109 S. Beckley. He and some of the men met to look at this building. An 18 month lease was later signed with option to buy and consequently on Wednesday night, June 1st, we held our first praise service at the Beckley location. Sis. Marilyn Freeman became the first member to unite with us at the Beckley location. On Friday and Saturday of that week, we were busy at working trying to clean the church in preparation for our Sunday services. On Sunday, June 5th, we held our first morning worship services at 2109 S. Beckley. God blessed us with another soul to unite with us and Shekinah held its first baptismal service.