The Salem Baptist Church is a Baptist

Baptist

Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...

 megachurch

Megachurch

A megachurch is a church having 2,000 or more in average weekend attendance. The Hartford Institute's database lists more than 1,300 such Protestant churches in the United States. According to that data, approximately 50 churches on the list have attendance ranging from 10,000 to 47,000...

 in Pullman

Pullman, Chicago

Pullman, one of Chicago's 77 community areas, is a neighborhood located on the city's South Side. Twelve miles from the Chicago Loop, Pullman is situated adjacent Lake Calumet....

, a neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, USA.
The senior pastor is James Meeks

James Meeks

James T. Meeks is a Democratic member of the Illinois Senate, representing the 15th district since 2003. He is also an active Baptist minister in Chicago and chairs the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus...

.
In a 2010 survey, Outreach Magazine

Outreach Magazine

Outreach Magazine is an Evangelical Christian periodical based in Vista, California. It focuses on activities of growing churches and is non-denominational.It is a periodical from the organization Outreach, Inc...

 ranked the church 54th largest in the USA based on average weekly attendance of 9,137.

History

The church dates back to January 13, 1985, when the Rev. Gordon H. Humphrey organized the church. In 2005, the church moved to its present location near the Bishop Ford Freeway

Bishop Ford Freeway

The Bishop Ford Freeway, formerly known as the Calumet Expressway, is a portion of Interstate 94 in northeastern Illinois, south of downtown Chicago. It runs from Interstate 57 south to the intersection with Interstate 80, Interstate 294 and Illinois Route 394...

.

House of Hope

The congregation area of the church is known as the House of Hope. The area can be turned into an indoor arena that hosts sporting events, music concerts, and other activities. The seating capacity of the arena is 10,000 spectators. The venue has a space of 203000 sq ft (18,859.3 m²).