DESCRIPTION:
This is track 9 from the album "Volume No. 1 Spirituals".
Victory Baptist Church was organized and founded by Arthur Atlas Peters on Sunday, April 2, 1943. During the same year, he graduated from Los Angeles Baptist Theological Seminary with a Bachelor of Divinity Degree. His wife Cody, "Mollie" Peters suggested the name of the church and it became "Victory."

The original church was a store front building on 42nd street and Wadsworth Avenue and began with 13 members. By 1944, the congregation had grown and they were able to move into a beautiful building on East 48th Street and McKinley. The church motto "To Serve the Present Age," was adopted and the church lived up to the creed when in 1948, property was purchased near the church to be used as a child care development center and nursery. Eventually, even this would expand to include a K-6 elementary school and Senior Citizen apartment buildings.

In 1950, Victory Baptist Church made national news and inspired thousands when the Sunday night services were aired on Channel 11, KTTV at prime time. The Voices of Victory, a 75 voiced choir and the pastor's messages drew many worshippers to the church.

During the 1960's, Victory became not only a spiritual center but a political one as well. Voter registration was encouraged and the church hosted fundraisers for the civil rights movements. When the Church celebrated its 24th Anniversary, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was the guest speaker.

The music department continued to grow and the Victory Baptist Choir, directed by Samuel Spann, became a vital force in the music ministry. Over the years a multitude of famous singers including Mahalia Jackson, Dorothy Maynor, Jester Hairston, The Clara Ward Singers, Ethel Waters and others appeared at Victory.
On September 25th 1975 Dr. Arthur A. Peters was killed. By the following year Rev. Charles N. Chapman was elected as the Pastor of Victory Baptist Church.