Historic Atlanta church ministers on in Falcons’ shadow

For 45 years, the Rev. Cameron Madison Alexander has led Antioch Baptist Church North in ministering to the neighborhood surrounding the new Falcons stadium. Now, with the demolition of two of the area’s other mainstay churches — Friendship Baptist and Mount Vernon Baptist — Alexander feels the urgency of that mission more keenly than ever.

My family and I have also been the beneficiaries of Alexander’s ministry since arriving in Atlanta 14 years ago. Recently, he and I spoke about the church and its future.

“I believe a church ought to have reasons for occupying the space that it does,” he told me. “It needs to ask what is it doing to represent the Lord.”