Goodnight Raleigh - a look at the art, architecture, history, and people of the city at night

What’s the Most Beautiful Church in Raleigh?

My vote goes to the United House of Prayer

I don’t attend or belong to a church and I haven’t seen all of the ones in Raleigh–but I’ve admired this structure on more than one occasion and thought it was beautiful. It is home to the United House of Prayer denomination, and is located on 409 East South Street, near Shaw University.

The Pastor, Apostle T. Baptist (above) was kind enough to show me around and give me a history lesson of the church. The United House of Prayer was founded by Charles Manuel Grace in West Wareham, Massachusetts. The first structure was built in 1919 at a cost of 39 dollars. Today, there are 138 congregations in 38 cities.

When asked of the significance of the lions pictured above, he stated: The lions are a representation of the lion of the Tribe of Judah. The lion of the Tribe of Judah was Jesus.

What makes this particular denomination so unique is that every church is completely paid for before the doors are opened for service. When asked about the significance of this in relation to the church, he stated: We can’t give or dedicate anything to God, unless we own it. This high level of fiscal responsibility allows them to contribute more towards the community. Weddings and funerals are provided at no cost. They run the McCollough Scholarship Fund, which allows the younger members of the congregation to seek higher education. They also provide housing and senior citizen care not only to their congregation, but to others in the community as well.

So now that you know which church I think is the most beautiful in Raleigh, which one do you think should hold the title? I’ll document and write about some of the responses in a later post.