Bethel Baptist Church was organized in the home of Alfred and Katie Wright in the spring of 1903 in St. Petersburg, Florida.  The first public worship service was held on September 27, 1903 in a building on Second Avenue South near Ninth Street in St. Petersburg.  Present were the first pastor, Rev. R. H. Cherry, and the first congregation:  Alfred and Katie Wright, Annie and Delia Artiss, Sarah Clairol, Henrietta Mitchell, Roseanna Weaver, and Ceasar Young.​