Ebenezer Baptist Church: New Horizon Sanctuary, Atlanta

The New Horizon Sanctuary was completed in 1999 and seats approximately 1,600 people. Its construction reflected the congregation’s deliberate decision to remain rooted in downtown Atlanta at a time when many churches were relocating to suburban areas. Today, the building forms an integral part of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park, continuing Ebenezer’s long-standing role as a living place of worship rather than solely a historic site.

Ebenezer has two main worship spaces facing each other across Auburn Avenue. The Historic Sanctuary is the older brick church on the south side of Auburn Avenue, preserved as the 1960s-era setting most associated with Martin Luther King Jr.’s ministry and the Civil Rights Movement. Directly across Auburn Avenue on the north side is the New Horizon Sanctuary, the larger, modern building used for regular worship and major gatherings.

If you’re standing on the north side of Auburn Avenue with the New Horizon Sanctuary in front of you, the open forecourt called Peace Plaza is the outdoor space that sits between the sanctuary and the National Park Service visitor facilities nearby. The bell tower rises as a vertical marker at the edge of this plaza, close to the street line. The educational building sits immediately alongside the sanctuary, functioning like the campus’s classroom and program wing. The prayer garden is set off from the street-facing plaza in a quieter pocket beside the complex.

Architecturally, the building draws inspiration from African communal meeting structures. Its interior roof ribbing evokes the texture and rhythm of traditional thatch construction, while the freestanding bell tower takes the form of a patterned obelisk, incorporating woven and symbolic motifs. The result is a modern sacred space that consciously references African heritage while serving the practical needs of a contemporary congregation.