Historic Antioch Baptist Church marks a milestone

SAN JOSE » The Antioch Baptist Church of San Jose is like a treasure trove, full of memories and religious relics that pay homage to the visionaries that established the city’s black community more than a century ago.

Across the street, the AfroAmerican Community Services Agency — a product of the church — has been opening its doors to this community for 40 years, providing them with educational programs, services and a place of belonging.

Both marked milestone anniversaries Saturday with a summer block party complete with guided tours of the church, food, bouncy houses and commendations from local officials.

Antioch Baptist, founded 125 years ago, is the oldest African American Baptist church in San Jose and has been an incubator for many of the city’s black leaders.

Harriett Arnold, a retired professor at the University of the Pacific who wrote a history of the church’s first 100 years, notes that the church is a historical landmark that — with the exception of a 1907 move forced by earthquake repairs — has been in the same location at 286 E. Julian St. since it was founded in 1893.

Few people know the ins and outs of the church like Arnold, from its founding members and former pastors to the chairs on the altar donated by parishioners and the stained glass restored in 1975. She gets excited as she walks through the church she’s worshiped in since 1989, pointing out bits and pieces of local black history.

“As a researcher I just kept gathering more and more stuff,” she said. “And it just got more and more exciting.

“I had no idea that there was such richness here in the city,” Arnold continued. “Nobody ever talks about this community.”

John Bowers II, a parishioner for more than 30 years, said Antioch Baptist has allowed him to share his faith — and its teachings — with others.

“It means something to be here in this community,” he said. “We’ll see what God is going to do in the next 125 years. We’re a historical landmark, so the church will be here whether there will be a congregation or not.”

Many of San Jose’s African-American leaders got their start at the church, including former Councilwoman Iola Williams, Afro-American Community Services Agency founder Inez Jackson, neighborhood leader Joyce Ellington and Henry Gage Sr., who led the local chapter of the NAACP and the East Side Union High School District.

Some of those were among the group that in 1978 founded what was then known as the AfroAmerican Community Service Agency. Today, the agency — led by Executive Director Milan Balinton — continues to provide programs for the city’s black community, from health and wellness and young adult education to computer training.

“When you look at the services we provide, it’s for everybody to come in when they need something and know where to go if we don’t provide those services,” said Balinton, who took the helm seven years ago after volunteering there with his fraternity as a San Jose State University student.

“And of course when people move here they say, ‘Well, where are the black people? Where’s the soul food? Where can I go get a haircut?’ Because people from communities like ours move here to Silicon Valley from Atlanta, New York, Miami and part of our help with the tech giants who have a 2 percent threshold of black people is to be that conduit to let them know that there is a black community here.”

The agency’s newest addition

is a blue-and-yellow resource center dubbed the “Warrior-Jackson Room” for families. Formally an old and forgotten library in a corner of the center, everything in the room was donated by the Golden State Warriors Foundation, PG&E, Ikea and Comcast

to give children and their families a place to learn and explore.

On one wall are several tiny white lab coats and goggles meant to get black and Latino kids interested in STEM or Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.

A photo of Warriors point guard Stephen Curry spans an adjoining wall with a quote from the ultra-popular ball player: “Be

the best version of yourself in anything you do. You don’t have to live anybody else’s story.”

Mercury News staff writer Sal Pizarro contributed to this report.

LIPO CHING — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER At right, Harriett Arnold, Chairperson of the Antioch Historical and Archival Committee, gives a tour of the Antioch Baptist Church to members of the San Jose Fire Department (Truck 30) and others during the Antioch Baptist Church Block Party on Saturday.

PHOTOS BY LIPO CHING — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER From left, Tony Alexander, the Reverend Fannie Davis of the Antioch Baptist Church, Santa Clara County District 4Supervisor Ken Yeager, Chairperson of the Antioch Historical and Archival Committee Harriett Arnold, and African American Community Service Agency Executive Director Milan Balinton, take a selfie with the Board of Supervisors Commendation given to the church during the Antioch Baptist Church Block Party.

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo speaks to community members during the Coffee with the Mayor event at the Antioch Baptist Church Block Party.

San Jose Fire Department firefighter Mike Oliver reacts as Jazlynn Nunes, 2, of San Jose, pretends to drive the firetruck during the Antioch Baptist Church Block Party.