In the year of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ 1875, through Mother Lena, at the corner of Ward (now known as Houston) and Davis Streets, a prayer circle was formed. These Prayer Meetings grew and the Holy Spirit was moved to organize the Shiloh Baptist Church, May 15, 1875. At that time the first Pastor was called, ordained and installed. Since that early date, the Lord has allowed His Church to remain a vital, soul-saving force in the LaVilla Community for many, many decades. During these 100+ years, Shiloh has been blessed with twelve Pastors, all men endowed with the Holy Spirit.
In the year of 1932, after the death of Pastor C. T. Dorrah, the Church called the late Reverend A. B. Coleman, Sr. Under the leadership of this notable man of vision, Shiloh grew to be the leading Baptist Church in the city. God endowed him with the vision to build the beautiful sanctuary that we now call the Coleman Auditorium. It was completed in 1955. Reverend Coleman, retired in 1976, after serving as Pastor for 44 years. In 1978, the Church called Reverend Eugene Pryor, who served as Pastor until 1984, then he resigned. In 1986, Reverend James Matthews, Jr. was called as Pastor. He served until his resignation in October of 1992.
smbcIn April of 1993, Pastor Darrell L. Gilyard, Sr. became the shepherd of this flock. Under his leadership, we entered our newest 5,000 seat sanctuary in May of 2002. Pastor Gilyard served Shiloh until his resignation in December of 2007.
On July 30, 2008, Shiloh ended a seven month search, when the church unanimously called H.B. Charles, Jr., a young man from Los Angeles, California, as our next Pastor. God has blessed Shiloh with an under shepherd who exhibits God’s love from his heart and teaches the Word of God expositorily from the Bible. We rejoice in the work that God has yet to reveal to us, as Pastor Charles writes the next chapter in Shiloh’s history. Pastor Charles truly believes that “Our Dreams are Greater than our Memories.”