About Us

Galilee was born in a “vision” to the late Reverend Frank Cubby. After serving as pastor at the St. John Missionary Baptist Church in St. Petersburg, Florida for more than five years, Reverend Cubby decided that it was time to fulfill a dream that God had revealed to him. So, on February 14, 1940, Valentine’s Day, with only one member and his family by his side, he saw his dream come to fruition. The late Deacon M. C. Love, that one faithful member, recommended the name “Galilee.”

The inaugural services were held in a “shack” that had been a small house that stood on 12th Street and 3rd Avenue South in St. Petersburg, where the congregation worshipped for approximately two years. By the late 1940’s, the membership had grown to 65 faithful followers, and they were able to purchase property and move to Elmore Avenue South.

In 1955, the congregation proudly dedicated a “new, state-of-the-art sanctuary” built at a cost of $65,000. Galilee became the “beacon on the hill,” the “Holy Ghost headquarters,” as the congregation and community called it. Galilee was the place for African Americans in the city to worship on Sunday mornings! Galilee was the place where the members had to come early to “fight for a seat” because of the influx of visiting worshippers, coming from far and near, even from out of state, to be a part of the “Galilee experience.”

By 1976, the membership exceeded 3,000 faithful followers, becoming one of the largest African American memberships in the community. On May 16, 1976, the visionary founder went to be with the Lord, happy and pleased that God had fulfilled his dream.

In February 1977, the late Reverend L. P. Davis of Chipley, Florida was called to be the new pastor. Reverend Davis served the congregation for approximately two years until God “set the church on a new path,” and Reverend Earnest Jones was called to be the third pastor of Galilee.

Reverend Jones began his tenure in May of 1980. In 1981, as in the name of progress and eminent domain, the City of St. Petersburg acquired our property to make room for an interstate corridor. The “beacon on the hill” was transitioned to the present site on January 17, 1982. The facility was completed at a cost in excess of $250,000.00. In October 2003, in fulfillment of a vision of Reverend Jones, the Reverend Frank Cubby Fellowship Center was erected and dedicated to the late founder. The center serves as a viable, Christian facility for the social needs of the congregation and community, constructed at a cost in excess of $277,000.00. Reverend Jones retired in July 2021 after 40+ years of meritorious service.

The Reverend Doctor Sean E.E. Thomas “returned home,” to be our spiritual leader on November 1, 2021. He was duly installed on January 9, 2022, and went home to be with the Lord on March 18, 2022. At the home going celebration of our beloved pastor, a member said, “It sometimes takes a lifetime to teach what Pastor Thomas taught Galilee in 4+ months.” We will remain forever grateful and thankful to God for his spiritually superb, unprecedented leadership.

On April 1, 2022, the Reverend Robert Sheppard answered the “call” to serve as Interim Pastor. Reverend Sheppard served us extremely well for 10 months with dignity, compassion, grace, and knowledge. He proclaimed God’s word through teaching and preaching, presided at the Lord’s table, baptized with water, added to our membership, prayed with the sick and buried our deceased, and counseled in search for our new pastor.

On February 1, 2023, after 11 months of many prayers and spiritual determination, we received the fifth Pastor in our 83-year history! We continually thank God for hearing our fervent prayers, for seeing our needs, for sending us His anointed, humble servant, preacher, teacher, and spiritual leader, the Reverend Doctor Julius Wynn, Sr.