Milwaukee’s Mount Carmel Missionary Baptist Church is one of 31 historically Black churches selected as a recipient of a Preserving Black Churches grant by the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund.

The $4 million investment seeks to maintain the cultural history of Black churches across the United States by equipping them with funding to address urgent and ongoing threats to facility preservation. Each church will receive $50,000 to $200,000.

“We created the Preserving Black Churches program to ensure the historic Black church’s legacy is told and secured. That these cultural assets can continue to foster community resilience and drive meaningful change in our society,” said Brent Leggs, executive director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund in a press statement.

Mount Carmel Missionary Baptist Church, located at 1717 W. Meinecke Ave., broke ground on its sanctuary in 1973. Built with the architectural guidance of Alonzo Robinson Jr., Wisconsin’s first registered Black architect, church leaders sought to establish a welcoming space for Milwaukee residents to embark on their faith journey.

For five decades, the church has welcomed Milwaukee parishioners for weekly services, bible study and holiday celebrations while serving as a beacon of light for Milwaukeeans by providing local residents with community and prayer.

Mount Carmel Missionary Baptist Church is led by Rev. Dr. Hugh Davis Jr. who has served as pastor for over 30 years.

Recognizing Black churches’ role as a sacred community landmarks and areas of refuge for poor and vulnerable populations, the Preserving Black Churches initiative has offered funds to address deferred maintenance, water filtration, mold contamination and other resources since 2022. Since its establishment, the fund has provided more than $9.8 million in grants to 80 Black churches.

“Black churches have been at the forefront of meaningful democratic reform since this nation’s founding. They’re a living testament to the resilience of our ancestors in the face of unimaginably daunting challenges,” said Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., historian and advisor to the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. “The heart of our spiritual world is the Black church. These places of worship, these sacred cultural centers, must exist for future generations to understand who we were as a people.”

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: National effort to preserve Black Churches supports Mount Carmel Missionary Baptist