Our History
Reverend James Lewis Allen served as pastor from 1919-1925, Reverend Allen founded the Allen Temple Baptist church in 1919. He was born in slavery, July 12, 1853, to David and Mary Allen of Leesburg, Loudoun County, Virginia. Reverend Allen began his ministry at the age of sixteen. Reverend Allen's first assignment was in Clarksville, Texas where he served as a schoolteacher and minister and later served in El Paso, Texas. Reverend Allen was seminary trained, having graduated from Maryland Seminary and Howard University. The history of Beth Eden Baptist Church records Reverend Allen was called to pastor Beth Eden from El Paso, Texas. After serving six years, Reverend Allen relocated to Oregon. In 1917, Reverend Allen returned to the Bay Area. The American Baptist Churches sent Rev. Allen to East Oakland to start a Church.
When Allen Temple was founded in 1919, the 1920 census count reported 5,489 black residents in Oakland with the majority of them clustered in West Oakland. Allen Temple Baptist Church was among nine known black churches in Oakland and the first black church in East Oakland.