Predecessor churches Second-Ponce de Leon Baptist Church was formed as the result of the merger of two
Atlanta-based Baptist churches: Second Baptist Church and Ponce de Leon Baptist Church. Both of these churches had been established as
missions of Atlanta's
First Baptist Church, which had been established in 1848. At the time, the church had a congregation of about 2,500. In the late 1940s, he oversaw an expansion plan for the church, purchasing property adjacent to the church as well as a new property north of the church to serve as the location for a new church. Physical changes to the church's campus included the creation of a
chapel building, a recreation building, and a
pastorium. By 1954, the congregation had grown to about 3,600, with a Sunday school enrollment of 3,500. Under his pastorship, the church's congregation became one of the largest churches in not only the
Georgia Baptist Convention, but the
Southern Baptist Convention as a whole. In 1972, the college merged with
Mercer University, with Swilley serving as a vice president until retiring in 1989. This was a period of increasing strife between conservative and liberal factions in the Southern Baptist Convention. 38 deacons left First Baptist Church in the decade after Charles Stanley, a strong conservative, became pastor of that church. Many of these deacons joined the congregation of Second-Ponce de Leon, which ultimately accepted about 200 former members of First Baptist. Addressing the division in 1976, Dilday told his congregation that the attention of the Southern Baptist Convention should not "be wasted on differences in theological positions but rather spent on unity and usefulness in the task God has given us to carry out". At the time, the church offered both contemporary and traditional worship services and accepted both men and women to the diaconate. In 2009, the church hosted the
funeral services for former
United States Attorney General Griffin Bell. In the 2010s, the church was involved in several projects with other Baptist churches. In March 2010, the church hosted the unveiling of the
Celebrating Grace Hymnal, a Baptist
hymnal developed by Mercer University in collaboration with individuals from several Baptist churches and religious institutions. In November of the following year, the church hosted the
New Baptist Covenant II, an ecumenical meeting of Baptists from different denominations and racial and ethnic backgrounds. Former
United States President Jimmy Carter, himself a Baptist, participated in the event, speaking at the church. In 2019, the church launched a program aimed at promoting diversity within the church. However, as of 2020, the makeup of the church was still largely white and, due in part to its location in the more affluent Atlanta district of Buckhead, wealthier than average. That year, the church established a college ministry. In 2021, the church was one of several hosts for the Cooperating Baptist Fellowship's annual General Assembly. At the time, the church was still dually affiliated with the Cooperating Baptist Fellowship and Southern Baptist Convention. == Architecture and design ==