This historic church was built in 1924 in memory of Bishop Lucius Henry Holsey, D. D (3 July 1842-3 August 1920). Bishop Holsey was the son of his enslaver, a white man named James Holsey. During his youth, he taught himself to read, which under the racial laws of the time was a crime. He was baptized in the Methodist Church. After emancipation, he became the Bishop of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church. An enlightened man who saw education as the best hope for his people, he founded Paine College in Augusta in 1883. At the time of his death in Atlanta in 1920, Holsey was one of the most influential African-Americans in the South.

Reverend W. A. Kelley was pastor at the time. Trustees of the church were: A. D. Latimer; J. W. N. Clay; G. B. Taylor; H. L. Wynn; B. Ford; Thomas Dixon; O. L. Cain; Wilbor Clay; M. Birch; and A. H. Gilbert. R. E. White was the architect. Compass Lodge No. 160, A. F. & A. M. laid the cornerstone on 7 September 1925.