Mason Temple, in Memphis, Tennessee, is the international sanctuary and central headquarters of the Church of God in Christ, the largest African American Pentecostal group in the world.
Built in 1941 during World War II, the Temple was constructed to replace the original "Tabernacle" or meeting place of the Annual Holy Convocation which burned down in the late 1930s. Despite shortages of steel and other supplies, Mason Temple was the largest church building owned by a predominantly black religious denomination in the United States at its completion. It has a present seating capacity of 3,732.
The building was named for Bishop Charles Harrison Mason, founder of the Church of God in Christ, who is entombed in a marble crypt inside the Temple. It was the location of Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech on April 3, 1968, one day before his assassination.
Famous quotes containing the word temple:
“Popular culture entered my life as Shirley Temple, who was exactly my age and wrote a letter in the newspapers telling how her mother fixed spinach for her, with lots of butter.... I was impressed by Shirley Temple as a little girl my age who had power: she could write a piece for the newspapers and have it printed in her own handwriting.”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)