Augusta, Georgia – On Sunday, October 26, twelve churches in downtown Augusta will open their doors for visitors to take a walk through their churches and through history. The participating churches are all listed in the National Register of Historic Places and represent many firsts for the community as well as their denominations. While each church is proud of its individual history and historical buildings, the goal of the tour is to highlight the impact these institutions have had on Augusta over the past 200 years. “We hope that people will not only see the beautiful architecture, but also get a sense of the impact these downtown churches have had and continue to have on our community,” said Anne Barton, chairman of the tour’s planning committee.

Participating churches are Holy Trinity Catholic Church, First Presbyterian Church, Thankful Baptist Church, St. James United Methodist Church, Metropolitan Community Church of Our Redeemer, First Christian Church, St. John United Methodist Church, and Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Resurrection, Union Baptist Church, Sacred Heart Cultural Center, Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox, and St. Paul’s Church.  Springfield Baptist Church and the Southern Bible Institute and Seminary (old First Baptist) are supporting the tour and highlighted on the tour map, but their buildings will not be open to the public.

The tour is self-guided and tour maps can be picked up at any of the participating churches or downloaded from the Historic Augusta website, www.historicaugusta.org. The tour begins at 12:00 and runs through 5:00.  See the tour guide for specific times for each church.