What is the name of the church that Calpurnia brings the children to?

The church Calpurnia brings Jem and Scout to is the First Purchase African M.E. Church. It is the principal church of Maycomb’s African American community in Harper Lee’s novel.

Calpurnia takes the children there on a Sunday, giving them a view of her life beyond the Finch household. The congregation initially reacts uneasily because Jem and Scout are white, but Reverend Sykes welcomes them and explains that Calpurnia is a member of the church.

The visit also introduces the children to the community’s poverty and solidarity. The church is raising money for Helen Robinson, Tom Robinson’s wife, because she is having difficulty finding work after Tom’s arrest. Reverend Sykes later helps Jem, Scout, and Dill find seats in the balcony during Tom’s trial.

Readers sometimes confuse the church with the courthouse or with a generic Baptist or Methodist congregation. Its distinctive name, First Purchase, reflects the community’s history: formerly enslaved people bought the building after emancipation using money from their first earnings.