Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, mused, “If you would understand anything, observe its beginning and its development.”

Kenneth Stampp, renowned professor of history, stated, “With the historian, it is an article of faith that knowledge of the past is a key to understanding the present.”

The history of a church reveals its origin, its character, its mission, its successes and failures, its strengths and weaknesses, its heroes and heroines, and its foundation for the future.

Every church is like a fingerprint or a snowflake. Although a church may be like many other churches in its doctrines and purpose, it is singularly significant and remarkably unique. Every church has its own DNA and its own special contributions to the Kingdom of God.

Georgia Baptist churches cover the gamut from small rural churches to large megachurches spread over multiple acres. The GBC has churches with traditional worship services and churches with worship that is contemporary. There are biker churches, ethnic churches, and cowboy churches. There are churches with gothic architecture and churches meeting in storefronts.

However, each church has a history that needs to be preserved. Kiokee Baptist Church, Georgia’s oldest continuous Baptist church, has a history that dates back to 1772. In contrast to the Appling church with 237 years of history, the Family Fellowship International Christian Church, one of Georgia Baptists’ newer congregations, was planted earlier this year. For the sake of posterity these churches need to preserve their history.

Rebecca Morris, historian and archivist for the Georgia Baptist Convention, recently remarked, “Our history gives a direction for where we have been and where we are headed. You can look at the Bible and see how much of it is history. We could not understand the importance of the coming of Christ if it weren’t for the Old Testament. It is the same with our denominational history and church history.”

Morris continued, “Every church has a part in that denominational history; and the loss of any church history creates a hole or void as we look into our past.

“Our goal is that every church have a guardian of that church’s history. As the archivist I want Georgia Baptists to know that our department is equipped to train each guardian or historian. We can also provide a storage place for historical documents.”

Bethany Baptist Church in McDonough, under pastor Al O’Quinn, is a thriving suburban congregation, celebrating its 150th church year.

Patricia Rosser, church historian, stated, “We had not been diligent in recording our history, but I worked for more than two years gathering information and compiling a record of our past and writing it all down so our members and others could have a copy of our 150-year history.

“I plan to continue as historian of Bethany at least for the near future. I have a vested interest in keeping the history of the church alive because my second great-grandfather was a founding member. To me it is a labor of love and an expression of appreciation for the sacrifices so many godly people have made to our church throughout the years.

“This June 20th my husband and I will be adding to the history of Bethany. We will be the first couple married at the church to also celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary at the church.”

 

Preserving footprints

Eugenia Henry is the historian for North Henry Baptist in Stockbridge. She suggests using church minutes, keeping photographs of special events, and recording significant stories of the church’s ministries as ways to preserve the church’s history for posterity’s sake.

Henry explained, “It is good for a church to see the footprints of where it has been in the past. That will give good information for planning the future.”

Deborah Robbins, historian of Bio Baptist Church in Hartwell, began to gather information about her ancestry once she retired from the workforce. As she got into her research project she found that churches could be very helpful in the discovery of one’s personal lineage.

Robbins stated, “The type of research I was doing was very frustrating, because I found that many state and government records were inaccurate with misspelled names and incorrect dates. However, I found that there were certain churches and church cemeteries that provided good information that gave me some real insight into my father’s ancestry.”

Morris added, “We would like to have a written history of every church and association in the Georgia Baptist Convention. Please send any pertinent historical information to Rebecca Morris, Georgia Baptist Mission and Ministry Center, 6405 Sugarloaf Parkway, Duluth, GA, 30097.

“Also make a note to remember that we are going to have our first Georgia Baptist History Conference at the Georgia Baptist Conference Center at Toccoa Aug. 28-29.”