The original church, which later became known as the Educational and Recreation Building, is a Tudor Revival structure built by architect J.

[2] In 1950, after internal feuding, George Beauchamp Vick became pastor and remained so after the church moved to new location on Grand River Avenue.

In 1968, the third Temple Baptist Church opened in Redford Township, at 23800 West Chicago (now Detroit World Outreach).

The church was an important location to the Civil Rights Movement, as it was an early member of the Progressive National Baptist Convention and the site of that body's second annual conference.

Numerous guests, including Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph D. Abernathy, and Benjamin Mays, also gave talks there.