Canaan Baptist Church of Christ was founded on September 18, 1918, in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Williams, which was located at 5151 South Wabash Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. The church was named by Mr. S.P. Porter and the organization was established under the leadership of Rev. E. Moore of Chattanooga, Tennessee. 

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Shortly after its founding, the church was forced to close all activity due to a National Pandemic – The Spanish Flu. With everyone healthy, the work of the Lord and the Canaan ministry was able to resume in the early Spring of 1920. Through the generosity of Congressman Oscar DePriest, the new home for Canaan was located at the Odd Fellows Home at 3300 South State Street.

The Canaan membership continued to grow and within a few months, we outgrew the Odd Fellows Home and relocated to 20 East 45th Street, which was the former home of Pilgrim Baptist Church. This location met all the needs of the church, so much so that the property was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Manns, upon payoff of the mortgage the building was deeded to Canaan Baptist Church of Christ.  
 

As the membership of Canaan continued to grow, the Canaanites were busy working and organizing the efforts of the congregation. In 1918 The Missionary Society was organized, and Mrs. Eliza Jones served as the first president. In 1920, Mrs. Jones along with other members within the church revitalized the Missionary Society, several other auxiliaries began to form in that year and more continued to form over the next decade. In 1920, Sunday School was formed by Mr. James Hawkins, the Senior Choir, led by Mrs. Minnie Williams along with Professor M.E. Fleming was formed, Mrs. Willie B. Stepney, and Mrs. Myrtle Reed served as the pianists. Mr. Jerry Mattlock served as the first president of the newly created Senior Usher Board.  In 1923, BYPU and Eight Point System were created and lead by Mr. S.P. Porter and Mr. M.E. Fleming respectively. 

Leadership was flourishing at Canaan, Rev. Moore returned to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and appointed Rev. J. Evans with Rev. E Chisom to the leadership of Canaan. Both appointees served in this position until the congregation elected Rev. Charles Favors to serve as pastor. After two years of service, Rev. Favors moved to Kansas City and was succeeded by several other wonderful pastors including, Rev. H.C. Hawkins, Rev J. E. Bryant, and Rev. N.B. Wright. In 1925, Rev. M.G. Bell, president of the BYPU, was elected pastor and served until January of 1933. Following the service of Rev. Bell, Rev. W.C. Brown served as interim pastor until Rev. Louis Rawls was elected pastor on March 17, 1933. 

Leaders may have changed but the growth of Canaan never slowed down, the congregation continued to grow, and more Auxiliaries were organized under the leadership of Pastor Rawls. With a constant desire to sing for the Lord, the Gospel Chorus was established in 1933 under the leadership of Mrs. Minnie Taylor as the first president. In 1935, the Young Matrons ministry was created with Mrs. Edna Mayberry as the president and Mrs. Bernice Brown Stalling was the first president of the Red Circle which was created in 1937. Working for the Lord never stopped, in 1938 Mrs. Callie Fong became the first president of the new First Aide Board, while Mrs. Mary Kirkland became the first president of the Junior and Intermediate Choirs.  Also, during this time, the Canaan’s Welfare Center and Employment Agency were organized. 

Rev. Rawls resigned his pastorate in August 1941, Rev. George W. Washington served as interim pastor until Rev. C.J Rogers was elected pastor on October 5, 1941. Shortly after Pastor Rogers was added to the list of great Canaan leaders, Dr. Watts chorus was organized, Deacon Lightfoot organized the Young Men and Women, and Mrs. Bernice Staling created the Progressive Men and Women auxiliary. 

By 1945, Canaan had experienced exponential growth and was celebrating over 20 years at our 45th Street location, the congregation was continuing to grow, and Canaan needed a larger place to worship. A parcel of land was purchased for a new building to be erected at 14-15 East 45th Street, Rev. Rogers’ pastorage ended in October 1945 before the new building was completed but this change did not stop Canaan from moving forward with the construction of the new building.  

The devil is always looking to test the faith of God’s children, on January 1, 1947, our place of worship at 20 East 45th Street was destroyed by fire, this was a devasting loss, but God made a way for Canaan to continue ministering in the community. Our Sunday services were temporarily held in the B. Michaelson’s Department store, located near 43rd and Indiana Avenue, and then moved to the A.R. Leak Funeral Home located at 45th and State Street.

In December 1947, Rev. E. H. Harris became the pastor, shortly thereafter construction was completed, and Canaan moved into our new church building at 14-16 East 45th Street on June 12, 1948. The church continued to grow in membership under Pastor Harris who served until August 1957, in December of that same year Rev E.E. Franklin was elected as the next pastor of Canaan.  

Under Pastor Franklin, Christian Education became the center of Canaan’s growth and development. We became active in the District, State, and National Congresses. Christian Education classes were attended by all members and were a requirement for those who served in leadership roles within the church.  With the continued growth of Canaan, Pastor Franklin identified a need to expand the pastoral staff and established an Assistant To The Pastor role within the church.  Rev. W.J. Ross, Rev. E. J. Adams, Rev. W. M. Minor, F. T. McEwen, and I.J. West each served in this role. 
 

Canaan and the work of its ministry had been on the move for over forty years, and in 1960 we finally found a place to call home. The current location at 6659 South Harvard Ave was purchased, this milestone was celebrated with a motorcade of members from the 45th Street location to our new home on Harvard Avenue. After the move to Harvard Ave. the membership began to grow at record rates, we purchased additional property at 6658 to use as our Educational Building and the property located at 6643 S. Harvard for additional parking. The Deaconess Ministry was organized in 1965, and we were blessed with great voices in a span of six choirs: Senior, Gospel, Evangelic, Choral Ensemble, Buds of Promise, and The Male Chorus.
 

God’s favor continued to pour in and on April 7, 1974, the mortgages were burned on all properties. In 1985 there was a reorganization of the department of Christian Education that offers accredited courses from the NBC, USA, Inc., The Evangelistic Team, and the New Membership Orientation class were added. The Prison Ministry, led by Deacon Tony Tidwell, was created.  First Aiders were certified by the Red Cross and the Junior First Aid was organized.

As growth continued and new auxiliaries were created there was also a need for change to improve the work being done at Canaan. Beginning with the Youth Department, the Missionary Department was reorganized, the Sunshine Band was removed, the Red Circle functioned as the Youth Missionary. The Mission was broken into six Circles, the young unmarried women under 35 years of age became the Young Matrons, women over 35 years old became the Ruth Circle.

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In 1993 all choirs were combined into one and became known as The Sanctuary Choir. On April 28, 1996, the 38-year tenure of Pastor Essex Elijah Franklin ended. On March 21, 1997, Rev. Charles F. Thomas became the Pastor of Canaan Baptist Church. Under Pastor Thomas’ leadership the Wednesday morning Bible class grew and was filled with many of our retired members. Canaan is no stranger to growth, in the summer of 1997, The Puppeteer United in Christ, The Computer Ministry, and The Pre-Past Ministries were created. The Brotherhood name was changed to Laymen in 1998, that same year The Health Fair and Audio Ministries were added. In an effort to meet the needs of the community, The Food Ministry was organized in 1999 and in 2000 The Praise Team, Senior Ministries, and Scholarship Committees were established.  

The start of the twenty-first century brought in even more blessing for Canaan, in 2006 the building at 6659 South Harvard was granted Landmark Status by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks. The building was designed by Solon Berman between 1904 -1905 and was originally built for the Fourth Church of Christian Scientists. In 2007 Canaan purchased a sixteen-passenger bus which provided transportation for our seniors among other uses.  

Pastor Thomas wanted to ensure the future of Canaan was planned, so on March 21st, 2010, he called a special meeting of the church and proposed that Rev. Fredrick O. Cherry, Sr. become the Assistant Pastor of Canaan Baptist Church and the successor for Pastor Thomas. The proposal was accepted, and Rev. Cherry was accepted by the Canaan family with open arms.  The church membership would again increase as several new members joined the Canaan family in fellowship and followship with Rev. Fredrick O. Cherry Sr.  

Also in 2010, Canaan celebrated its 92nd anniversary and fifty years of being in our Harvard Street location. In reflecting on memberships past and present, we are proud of how the Outreach Ministries of Canaan have touched so many lives, five new churches organized, and thirty ministers have been called to preach the word of God. Each one has grown up in Canaan Baptist Church. Still, in 2011 and subsequent years, the Church continued to progress in the various studies and outreach programs. The Wednesday night Bible class begin to grow under the teachings of our Assistant Pastor Cherry and Deacon Tony Tidwell.

One hundred years of being open for service in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was celebrated in 2018. During this celebration some new practices were established, individual ministry anniversary celebrations were eliminated, and are unitedly celebrated on all Ministries Day – the third Sunday in July. Men’s and Women’s Day is celebrated annually in April instead of October, the Church Anniversary was also moved from April to September.

In May 2019, the twenty-two-year leadership of Pastor Thomas, unfortunately, ended as his work here on earth was done and he was called home to glory. Assistant Pastor Dr. Fredrick O’Neal Cherry, Sr. was installed as the Pastor of Canaan Baptist Church of Christ in June 2019, as the Moderator of the Emmanuel District, Rev. Dr. Russell B. Harris, Sr. was the overseer of the proceedings. Canaan has continued to grow under the Leadership of Pastor Cherry. The congregation has become more acquainted with the world of technology and the pace of an “out-front” leader.
 

Canaan has always been resilient; in March of 2020, we experienced our second National Pandemic – Coronavirus (Covid-19). The world and the physical doors of Canaan were closed for the health and safety of our bodies but through God’s mercy and with the help of technology we were able to continue our spiritual growth. Using Facebook, YouTube, and the telephone we feed our hearts and minds with Sunday School and Morning Worship, Wednesday Evening Prayer, and Bible Class.  The devil was busy during the pandemic, but God continued to show up and show out for Canaan; through the virtual ministry, we were able to reach more souls and our church membership continued to grow.  While our membership was growing, God continued to shower Canaan with blessings for our physical structure; despite being amid a pandemic we paved a beautiful new parking lot, new carpeting was laid, new furniture was purchased for the ladies’ lounge, and the pulpit seating was reupholstered; more work is needed, but we are extremely thankful for what God has already done and we are confident that God will continue to fulfill all our needs. 
 

Canaan has been in existence for over 100 years, we have had many challenges and seen some dark days, but as a church, we have prevailed and shall continue as we move forward in this time of worldly conflict - we know that God is still in control.  

 

God has sent many special people to work in Canaan’s vineyard. Neither time nor space can be allotted to recognize the lay members who have served Canaan well in many capacities. Church Officials, Office Staff, Maintenance, Musicians, Teachers, Ministry Leaders, Soloists, Choir members, Ushers, First Aiders, Christian Educators, Youth Leaders, Bus drivers and the many, many members who have volunteered their time and finances to pick up the slack. Many may not have worked in Ministries, but have made significant contributions by being prayer partners and faith partners to others. If you have smiled and said God Bless you or said I’m praying for you, or have shown a pleasing personality, you have sown seeds of Kindness. When you have done these things to the least of Canaan family members, you have done them unto Christ. As a People and as a Church our only purpose is to Glorify God.

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Notable past members and guests of our great Canaan Ministry

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Members: Elliot Bond, John Stroger, and Albertina Walker Guest: Clay Evans, Mahalia Jackson, Rev. C.L. Franklin, Aretha Franklin, Rev Jesse Jackson, Jessy Dixon, James Cleveland, Staple Singers, Thompson Community Singers, Sam Cooke, and the Soul Stirrers. Canaan was always known for its great gospel singing groups.