From 1960 until his death, Martin Luther King, Jr. served with his father, Martin Luther King, Sr., as co-pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. The church, which was founded in 1886, not only served as a ministerial training ground for King, Jr., but also as a "second home," with family connections to the church extending back to the late 1800s.
Alfred Daniel Williams, King, Jr.'s maternal grandfather, became Ebenezer's second pastor in 1894. Under his leadership, the church grew to nearly 750 members by 1913. Williams, who moved the church twice before purchasing a lot on the corner of Auburn Avenue and Jackson Street, announced plans to raise $25,000 for a new building which would include an auditorium and gallery seating for 1,250 people. In March 1914, the Ebenezer congregation celebrated the ground breaking for its new building.
After completion of the new building in 1922, the church faced a steady decline in membership from 900 in 1918 to 300 by 1924. Williams, who was approaching his thirtieth year as pastor, was facing competition from younger ministers in Atlanta. In addition, some of the members may have joined the migration of African Americans to northern cities. After the death of Williams in 1931, Martin Luther King, Sr., who had married Williams' daughter Alberta in 1926, became pastor and reinvigorated the church.
With King, Sr. as pastor and Alberta serving as musical director, the King family spent much of their time at Ebenezer. King, Jr. later described how his earliest relationships were formed at church: "My best friends were in Sunday School, and it was the Sunday School that helped me to build the capacity for getting a long with people." While in seminary, he often preached at Ebenezer, and he served as assistant pastor for many summers before being ordained by his father at the church.
King, Jr. became co-pastor of Ebenezer in 1960 when he moved the headquarters of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) from Montgomery to Atlanta. Bringing his international reputation to Ebenezer, King, Jr. established a variety of new programs during his joint ministry with his father. After King, Jr’s assassination in 1968, King, Jr.'s brother Alfred Daniel Williams King was installed as Ebenezer's co-pastor. King, Sr. continued as pastor until 1975.