ATLAH World Missionary Church

The church was founded and organized in Harlem on June 6, 1957, by the Reverend Millard Alexander Stanley as the Bethelite Community Baptist Church.^[5]

In early June, just a few days before the first worship service was held, Stanley was sitting in front of a storefront on 8th Avenue in Harlem. A local heroin addict spoke to him and said, "If y’all gonna be a church, you better 'Be-The-Lite.'" Thus, the mission was formed and named Bethelite.^[5]

In 1981, James David Manning replaced Stanley as chief pastor. Under Manning's leadership, the church name changed to ATLAH ("All The Land Anointed Holy"), and ministries were established.^[11]

Newest Ministries – The Temple Hour of Prayer May 29, 2008; and The Manning Report August 25, 2008.^[11]

• ATLAH Men's Business Association: Men's group established in 2003.
• ATLAH Superior: Started as a group of 70 women in 2003 for the establishment of a specialty food service supermarket in New York.
• ATLAH Theological Seminary: Established in 1994 as an adult-education, Bible, business, and social studies institution.
• ATLAH World Ministries: Established in 1992 as a half-hour Christian teaching radio, expanded to a weekly TV broadcast heard on several networks, and currently on YouTube and several other venues.
• Great Tomorrows Elementary/Middle School and ATLAH High School: The school was established in 1994 for the purpose of educating young people from elementary to high school focused upon a private Christian education founded on the M.A.D. Curriculum. The school is not registered and has been pending since about 2013.^[12]

This building was erected in the 1890s as the Harlem Social Club. Father Divine (c.1876–1965) and his International Peace Mission Movement were located here during the 1930s.^[13]

The messages on the church letter board used anti-gay epithets and stated a Christian imperative to kill gay people by stoning. They gained notice on several websites, including some that promote gay rights and oppose hate speech.^[14]

In early 2014, the church posted a series of messages on its letter board sign that asserted that Barack Obama is a Muslim and that he is not legally president. Example messages that were documented on the websites include:

• Obama has released the homo demons on the black man. Look out black woman. A white homo may take your man.^[15]
• Many of these homos moving into Harlem looking for some black meat^[16]

In March 2014, local lesbian and transgender activist Jennifer Louise Lopez knocked on the church door to ask for her stoning.^[17]

In August 2014, Manning promised that President Vladimir Putin of Russia would release information collected by the KGB that would prove that President Obama is homosexual.^[18]

In November 2014, Manning claimed in a video presentation that Starbucks was "Ground Zero" for Ebola. He warned people to stay away from Starbucks if they did not want to get Ebola.^[19]

On November 5, Manning claimed that in "a few days' time," there would be no homosexuals in Harlem and Starbucks would close."^[20]

In January 2016, a state judge ordered ATLAH Worldwide Church to be sold at a public foreclosure auction after failing to pay creditors more than $1.02 million, court records show.^[21] The Church maintains they are afforded tax exempt status by the New York Supreme Court and are not liable for the fines^[22] citing the Court's ruling in December 2004.^[23] The Ali Forney Center announced their interest in acquiring it for the purposes of an LGBT youth homeless services center, and raised $200,000 in two weeks from a fund-raiser to achieve that goal.^[24][25] A temporary stay on the sale was granted pending a full hearing on April 21, 2016. Carl Siciliano of the Ali Forney Center planned to use the time to research the property.^[26] In September the judgment of foreclosure was vacated.^[27]

In 2019 the Southern Poverty Law Center added ATLAH Church to the national Hate Group List.^[28]

• James David Manning, chief pastor