Coastal Georgia's 200-year-old North Salem Baptist Church has ministered through hurricanes, yellow fever outbreaks

Over the past 30 years alone, the church has given just shy of $1 million to support missionaries around the world, according to records maintained by the Georgia Baptist Mission Board.”

PORT WENTWORTH, Ga. — For the past 200 years, North Salem Baptist Church has been a constant in coastal Georgia, ministering to area residents through hard times that have included hurricanes, yellow fever outbreaks, and the Civil War.

The congregation held a  bicentennial celebration on Sunday, looking back at a rich history while preparing for what the congregation hopes will be a bright future.

Southern Baptist historian Charles Jones said the church’s longevity speaks to its continued relevance in proclaiming the gospel while meeting the changing needs of local residents.

“They had to be a people of faith and focus, to see themselves as a part of God’s larger plan to reach the world," Jones said. "They have understood through the years that they’re part of something much larger than themselves.”

That continues to be reflected in North Salem’s financial support for missions. Over the past 30 years alone, the church has given just shy of $1 million to support missionaries around the world, according to records maintained by the Georgia Baptist Mission Board. The largest chunk of that financial support has been given through the Cooperative Program, the initiative through which Southern Baptist churches have traditionally worked together to reach the nations with the gospel.

Quillen Mercer, the missions strategist in the Washington Baptist Association and former pastor at North Salem, said the church, which currently averages about 100 people in Sunday morning worship services, is a special place.

“Ultimately, throughout its history, North Salem has bound together,” Mercer said. “There have been good days and bad days, but throughout the 200 years, the people of the church have become the family of God in the best possible way. They’ve been honest about who they are, even when it’s hard.”

Mercer served as pastor of the church for seven years until he accepted his current position last year.  A search committee has been assigned to look for the church’s next leader.

Malcolm Smith, North Salem’s chairman of deacons, walked the church grounds on Thursday, pointing out the various building expansions that have been completed over the years, the latest one a sanctuary built in 1996. Behind the sanctuary is the education wing built in 1986. Beside it is a revamped children’s ministry building originally built in  1888.

Things have certainly changed, Smith said, since the church's only building was a simple, one-room “meeting house."

Mildred Helmey, the 80-year-old historian at North Salem, said local families who started the church had been making a 16-mile-trek on foot or in horse-drawn wagons to Eden to attend worship services. A new church closer to home, she said, eliminated the day-long journey to worship.

The new church was needed, Jones said, because an 1822 revival in Georgia’s coastal communities caused the population of new believers to swell.

Helmey said the church's history is filled with interesting bits of trivia, including that the first pastor, Allen Sweat, was chosen by having his name drawn out of a hat. The story goes, Helmey said, that the congregation had a choice between Sweat and another minister, John Southwell, and to make the decision, they put their names into the hat.  Sweat served until  1839 at which time  Southwell took over.  

At the time, Port Wentworth was a sparsely populated agricultural community. In modern times, the city’s economy shifted largely to an industrial base.

The city’s population has nearly tripled over the past decade to 13,697 with people moving in for jobs at and around the nearby Port of Savannah, one of the largest shipping hubs in the eastern U.S.

Mercer said the church is well positioned for growth.

“I believe the future is wide open for North Salem,” he said. “The church is healthy, and God is at work. Celebrating 200 years is wonderful, but I truly believe that her best days are ahead. I cannot wait to see what God does next.”

Interim pastor Jim Staubes said the people at North Salem have something more important than the population growth and the expanding economic base working in their favor.

“They love each other, and they love the Lord,” he said. “There is no friction here. They have unity.”