Broad Street  was originally founded in 1881 as Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church. Reverend J.F. Doescher was the first Pastor commissioned as the first Missouri Synod Pastor to African Americans. Reverend Doescher helped establish the first Black Lutheran Congregation in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1877 before coming to New Orleans.


A very short list of Pastor’s served including after Doescher including J. Werner, C.B. Gohdes, A.O. Swinehart, O.J. Schillings and P.H. Aufderstrasse through 1950. The facilities themselves were under the care of several other ministries through the next fifty years and were most recently known as The True Gospel of Jesus Christ pastored by Reverend Eldridge Hunter.

The flood waters of hurricane Katrina were at least 6 feet high. God was obviously the architect of this building. The beautiful sanctuary was built on the second floor. No damage was suffered by the beautiful hand hewn pews or the stained glass windows.

For months before Katrina, Pastor Frank Bailey drove by the church and heard a stirring in his heart.  Not long after returning to the city after the storm, he noticed the buildings were for sale.  He and Pastor Parris believe that God provided the facility that they had been watching for months.

In February 2006 Pastors Frank and Parris closed on the building.  The miracle of the moment was overwhelming.  The buildings were purchased debt free.  What an awesome testimony to the goodness of God.

For months after the purchase, teams fed people on North Broad, while teams of volunteers worked to repair the inside.

On the first weekend of June, just one year after the opening of Mount Calvary, Broad Street Mission reopened her doors.  With an appreciation for all of those brothers and sisters who had labored in the field in the past, we press on to the new season this church will be to the neighborhood.