May 20, 2025
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Springfield Baptist Church in Augusta, Georgia, established ca. 1787, is arguably one of the oldest, if not the oldest, Black congregations in America. Like a rock, it has weathered 240 years of challenges, including slavery, emancipation, yellow fever epidemics, the Jim Crow Era, race riots, floods, fires, and obstacles of urban renewal. It has mentored, ordained, and sent out from its membership pastors, missionaries, and lay leadership for other churches and the denomination.
Springfield is not only one of the oldest Black congregations in America but also the oldest Baptist congregation in Augusta. The (white) First Baptist Church of Augusta was not organized until 1817. Springfield was a member of the (white) Georgia Baptist Convention until 1866, when Black membership of churches and existing Black congregations began organizing their own churches, associations, and a state convention. Springfield was an early member of the Georgia Baptist Association and, for many years, led in baptisms and had the largest membership of any church.
Springfield traces its origins to the Silver Bluff plantation across the Savannah River in South Carolina. Even though the plantation owner was not a Baptist, he welcomed itinerant Baptist preachers to preach. A date of origin cannot be verified for preaching at Silver Bluff, but Separatist Baptist itinerant preachers, including the Marshalls, Shubal Sterns, and Waite Palmer, were in the Carolinas by the 1750s.
By the end of the Revolution in 1783, several Black preachers had been ordained in the region. Two of them, George Liele and David George, preached at Silver Bluff. Following the Revolution, both men fled Georgia and would become the first Baptist missionaries to Jamaica and Liberia, respectively.
As Augusta grew, the owner of the Silver Bluff plantation moved a portion of the slaves from the plantation to the town, possibly to work in factories and warehouses. During its early years the church was, at times, listed as being in both locations. The Springfield section of Augusta had a large Black population, which included both freemen and enslaved people. Because many of them were skilled tradesmen, they were often able to earn money and purchase their freedom.
Jesse Peters (Galphin), a slave preacher, was the first recognized pastor of the congregation. Following the Revolution, Peters had the opportunity to flee Georgia and secure his freedom. For reasons unknown, he chose to return to Augusta, to enslavement and the congregation he loved. In 1793, Peters was emancipated and continued to pastor until at least 1808. The following year, the Georgia Association minutes reported Springfield’s pastor had died. Without Peters’ influence following the Revolution, the church may have scattered, but under his leadership, it continued to grow. In 1803, the church had a membership of 505, making it twice as large as any other church in the association.
Springfield is the mother church of the Black Baptist Churches of Augusta and northeast Georgia, as evidenced by those who bear the name “Springfield.” This church has been a leader in missions and education. One of its earliest recorded gifts to missions was $5.00 given in 1823 to support the creation of the Baptist mission to the Creek Indians along the Chattahoochee River.
One of her most beloved pastors, Jacob Walker, served the church for 27 years (1829-1846). When he heard about a project to translate the Bible into African languages in 1843, he enthusiastically led the church to support those efforts. Springfield was the home church of two early Black Baptist missionaries to Liberia. Samuel Bell and Caeser Fraser, who sailed to Liberia in 1843 and 1852 respectively, had become members of the church under Walker’s leadership. Following Walker's death, the church organized one of the first African American Missionary Societies in America in 1848, which was named in Walker’s honor. A later pastor reflected that the Baptist in Liberia owed a debt to the church “because some of its ‘strongest men’ had come from Springfield.”
Under Walker’s leadership, the church in 1844 acquired and moved a beautiful building from St. James Methodist Church, which had been built in 1801. This building would be the site of many important events in the history of the church, city, and state, including the organizational meeting of what became the Republican Party of Georgia in 1866. It is the oldest church building in the city.
Education has been a passion of the congregation. The old building was the site of one of the first Black Sunday Schools in Georgia in 1859. The Sunday School was established by William White, a Springfield member, who later became the pastor of one of Springfield’s daughter churches. White was a founder of the Augusta Theological Institute in 1867, which began in the basement of Springfield. The school later relocated to Atlanta and became Morehouse College. In the 1890s, the local school board, in part because of the poor economy, voted to close the only Black high school in the city. White, who was editor of the “Georgia Baptist” newspaper, led the unsuccessful fight in the courts to reopen the school.
White also helped lead the fight against Jim Crow laws enacted restricting Black ownership of property in certain areas of the city and ordinances enacted to restrict seating of Blacks to the back of city streetcars. He did this, endangering himself and his family, at one time requiring police protection and having to flee the city on another occasion. White was a pioneer in the early days of what became the Civil Rights Movement. Augusta historian Edward Cashin observed, “Black Augustans may not have endured (segregation) as they did if they had not held so firmly to the message of the churches.”
In 1866, following the Civil War, Springfield and many other Black churches across the south petitioned their associations to formally dismiss them to organize new African American associations and a new State Convention. The membership of Springfield at the time was 1,981, making it one of the two largest congregations in the state. The church hosted the new Georgia Baptist Missionary Convention on numerous occasions and has produced leadership to fill its ranks.
The church has been blessed with many outstanding preachers and has mentored many more. One of her members, a contemporary of William White, was Henry Williams. William was called to preach in 1862 and began preaching on nearby plantations. On one plantation, he received 100 lashes for his efforts. He kept on preaching, pastoring, and church planting, once baptizing 107 in a single year.
The construction of the current sanctuary began in 1897. During difficult economic times, it took years to complete, but they did not give up. Today, both structures, the 1801 and 1897 sanctuaries, are well maintained. The older structure is on the National Register of Historic Places, and if those walls could talk, they would have quite a story to tell.
The church’s current pastor, Rev. Hardy Bennings III, has served for the past 15 years. A preacher’s kid, he is an Augusta native. Although his father pastored a church in South Georgia, he was raised in the Springfield church and community. Today, Pastor Bennings is leading the church to face many of the challenges that other downtown churches are facing.
Pastor Bennings said this includes asking the questions, “How do we do church in a post-pandemic world?” “How do we share the gospel in the language of today’s culture without diluting the gospel message?” He further described challenges to the church because of urban renewal, which meant the loss of many of the homes in the immediate Springfield neighborhood.
His passion for the church, community, and sharing the gospel reflects that of his many predecessors, beginning with the former slave named Jesse Peters. As the triumphs and faithfulness of a church like Springfield are celebrated during Black History Month, it is important for all Georgia Baptists to be reminded that Springfield’s history is a shared history. The journey is one of a common gospel which is built upon the rock of an uncommon Savior, that has stood for more than two thousand years.
Today, the faithful congregation remains an anchor for the Black community in Augusta.
