On June 8, 1871, Reverend Christbuger and a small group of Christians met at the bottom of North Court Street and organized a church, which was later to become St. John’s African Methodist Episcopal Church of Montgomery, Alabama. Moving from the “Bottom,” this loyal band of Christians began construction of the present building in 1873, completing the basement in 1874, and later constructing the upper story in 1877-1888, as members brought bricks in arms and in aprons during the pastorate of Reverend S. N. Fitzpatrick.

The present edifice, which gracefully stands on the Madison Avenue Hill, is a monument to the sacrifice and dedication of the church’s pioneers.