By TCR Staff
On September 25, 2018, the sale of the AME Church Publishing House, originally known as the Sunday School Union, was announced by Canadian-based commercial real estate firm
Founded in 1882 as the Sunday School Union by the Rev. (later Bishop) Charles Spencer Smith, MD, the AME Church Publishing House has historically been a part of the religious publishing presence along Eighth Avenue South in Nashville, Tennessee. The current edifice was erected in 1977 by the Rev. (later Bishop) Henry Allen Belin, Jr.* on property purchased from the estate of the late Ira T. Bryant, a previous publisher. At one point, there were three denominational publishing houses on Eighth Avenue: the Southern Baptist Publishing House (now Lifeway), the United Methodist Publishing House, and the AME Church Publishing House. The AME Church property was the last to be sold. “We are occupying a prime property that many developers wanted to get their hands on,” commented the Rev. Roderick D. Belin, the president/publisher. “So, it was, I think, a good choice when the sale was finally effectuated that we were able to make a sufficient amount of money that would allow us to develop a new property.”
The sale of the property was administered by the Connectional Board of Trustees (formerly the Board of Incorporators) of the AME, Inc., the entity that formally owns the AMEC Publishing House building and other properties administered by general officers. Ten million dollars was allocated from the sale by the Connectional Board of Trustees to Publisher Belin to purchase property and erect a new building. About the apportionment, the Rev. Belin stated, “I don’t know how that figure was arrived at. I have requested a certain amount of money [from the Board of Trustees] that will assist us in paying some long-standing debt off. And I have been informed that that will be given to us.”
After analyzing several alternatives, negotiations were entered with Greater Bethel AME Church (located a few blocks from the Sunday School Union at 1300 South Street) to purchase a parcel of land in the historic and predominantly African-American Edgehill neighborhood for $4 million dollars. About the sale, the Rev. Belin commented: “I really felt good about purchasing this property from Greater Bethel because it means that we can make an investment not only in our community but also in an AME Church in particular. And [it addresses] the concern about all of us abandoning downtown—that property is still walking distance from where we are right now.”
The Rev. Walter W. Reid, Jr. the current pastor of Greater Bethel and the third member of the Reid family** to pastor the church, was enthusiastic for his congregation to sell the property to the AME Church Publishing House. “This property has been sitting vacant for many, many years and we’d had several offers to sell this property based upon the growth of the community that we’re in, which we declined. The four million [dollars], that price that was agreed upon is the appraised value. We could’ve gotten much more for this property, but we saw the opportunity as being too valuable to pass up as far as the AME Church,” he said. After making needed building renovations, Greater Bethel plans to place the remainder of the money in an irrevocable trust at Citizens Bank—the oldest African-American-owned bank in the United States—to provide for the congregation’s future.
With the property secured, the services of design-build firm T.W. Frierson were engaged to construct the new building. This firm has a long-standing relationship with the AME Church, having constructed the current Sunday School Union building as well as the recently completed Lee Chapel AME Church located at 1200 D.B. Todd Boulevard in North Nashville. *** As a design-build firm, T.W. Frierson is both architect and general contractor. The firm’s representative, Ben Mosley, explains, “This is more of an integrated process—that it’s constantly informing the price and hopefully putting in place the right cost control, so you don’t unnecessarily spend design time and money to do it multiple times over before you get the result that you’re looking for.” The new AME Church Publishing House building also has a “guaranteed maximum” price wherein the maximum cost of construction is agreed to at the beginning of the project irrespective of subsequent increases in the prices of materials or labor. According to both the Rev. Belin and Mr. Mosley, the project will entail eleven months of work beginning in Spring 2019 and is scheduled to finish between the first and second quarters of 2020.
The new building will be three stories, 10,000 square feet per floor, with the first floor including two separate retail spaces to be offered for lease. The lobby will be two stories to give “drama and beauty” to the building. There will be a community space on the first floor, which will also serve as a chapel along with a small banquet facility with a catering kitchen. There will be an archive/museum space and a storage and loading dock on that level as well. There will be 12 executive office suites with space to house the same general officers in the current building along with the 13th Episcopal District headquarters.
Of importance to this construction project is the creation of a holistic and aesthetically-pleasing environment. Publisher Belin stated, “Particularly in the climate which we find ourselves in this country, we have the need to be in a place that feeds and ministers to us. We will not only deliver life-giving and liberating materials that teach and instruct but [people] will also be able to see artwork.” Renowned Memphis-based visual artist and AME Church member Terry Lynn has been engaged to decorate the lobby and common spaces. Judy Worthen, a professional quilter from California, and Brandon Odom, a New Orleans-based muralist will also lend their talents to enriching the visual environment of the edifice. “One of the reasons why I’m focused on the art is because—I’m considering literature as art and the visual arts—art enhances life and it is instructive,” emphasized the Rev. Belin. He continued, “It is a mirror of our lives, but also is instructive to us and gives us refreshment and delight.”
The construction of the new AME Church Publishing House building will be the first building constructed by a Connectional Department in over four decades. In an era of rapid changes in communication and information technology, the building is not only viewed as a physical renovation but as an intellectual renewal and affirmation. Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie serves as the Chair of the General Board Commission on Publications which supervises the operations of the AMEC Publishing House and made the following reflection, “We have a voice as the African Methodist Episcopal Church. We have a voice that speaks of social justice and liberation that speaks of so many different things that represent a people…countries and nations. You can’t always trust other people to represent your voice. [The AMEC Publishing House] represents our ability of not being dependent on any other entity to be able to say what needs to be said at a time it needs to be said and a way that it needs to be said that it has a global impact.”
EDITOR’S NOTES: *The Rev. Henry A. Belin served as the President/Publisher of the AME Church Publishing House from 1972-1984 when he was elected and consecrated as the 104th Bishop of the church. The current President/Publisher, the Rev. Roderick D. Belin, is his son.
**The Revs. Joseph Reid and Walter W. Reid, Sr. also served as pastors of Greater Bethel AME Church in Nashville.
***President/Publisher Roderick D. Belin was the pastor of Lee Chapel AME Church during the construction of the new building.
