A Marietta street sign will honor Dr. Benjamin Lockhart Jr., retired pastor of Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Marietta, according to an Aug. 8 vote by the Marietta City Council.
Requested by Councilman Johnny Walker, the sign will be installed on Lindley Avenue.
Under Lockhart’s leadership since 1978 until 2017, the church has grown from 300 to more than 1,500 members and given birth to 25 ministries, according to a brief biography written about Lockhart in 2014 at TheGospelChoiceAwards.com/Lockhart.php.
Among them have been several outreach ministries which serve the poor, the imprisoned, those with drug and alcohol dependency and wounded women.
The work of these ministries adds to the history of the 133-year-old church which was the second black church in Cobb County to operate a public school and one of the first churches in Cobb County to own a church bus.
A native of Macon, Lockhart came to Pleasant Grove from Faith Tabernacle Baptist Church in Atlanta where he served as pastor for three years.
Before that, he served as pastor of Mt. Sinai Baptist Church in Macon for three years and at New Bethel Baptist Church in Unadilla for three years.
One of his biggest accomplishments as pastor has been the building of a new church home at 566 Whitlock Ave. that opened in 2001.
Information: PleasantGrove.org/new-here/who-we-are
About the Author
