BOSTON — The Holy Spirit is alive and well in a small church in Boston, Georgia, as they soon celebrate their 150th anniversary.
The church was founded on October 12, 1872 after a foundation board met to help form the church. Records indicated that following a sermon by JS Baker, 34 members put their names down to become charter members of what would later become the Boston Baptist Church.
The church was located at the corner of Main Street and Jackson Street, with J. M. Rushin as pastor. However, it only stayed there for a year before being destroyed by a storm in 1873.
As the church worked on constructing a new building, they encountered local Methodist and Presbyterian churches.
On September 13, 1873, a new building had been established and dedicated to the Lord by the Reverend CD Campbell.
After years at their site, the church decided they wanted a more central building and purchased what is now their home.
In April 1910, the land was laid for the Boston Baptist Church. While digging the ground, Carrie Parramore Barrow walked by and asked if she could lay one of the bricks.
She was the only one to lay a brick that today bears her initials, “CB”, which can still be seen today on the south side of the church.
In the fall of 1913, the church was completed and Rushin preached the first sermon.
Rushin witnessed many dedicated members of the church, including Barrow, who taught the elementary school Sunday school class for fifty years before he died.
Other honorable members included Geneva Groover, who spent fifty years as a pianist in the church.
To celebrate Groover, the church held a “Miss Geneva Day” and presented her with a cup of love.
While Groover and Barrow are now deceased, 150th Committee Chair Faye Herring still remembers their presence, along with so many others.
“I still see some of our old members and remember where they were sitting,” Herring said. “I just imagine them.”
Herring explained that she played the organ and that every Sunday when she finished playing, a special member of the congregation was waiting for her on the pew.
“She was a great comfort to me,” she said. “Of course, I see my family. I had two great aunts and my grandmother that I remember in that church. It is very valuable to me.
Mayor Danny Groover agreed, saying he remembered where his grandmother sat every Sunday.
Although the church has lost many special members over the years, it has also grown in ways the original 34 members could never have imagined.
The church now has over 100 members with a fellowship hall, an educational annex and a beautiful pastorium for their pastor of over 30 years, Tim Phillips.
Fellowship Hall was the most recent addition, having just been completed in 2002 by Carpenters for Christ.
However, the mission is still the same: “to be a beacon bringing people closer to each other and to Jesus Christ, who made all these things possible”.
This story is in their original pulpit, which is still in use today.
The pulpit hopes to welcome many visitors on October 30, when the church celebrates its 150th anniversary and reunion during the 11 a.m. services.
All are invited to attend, sing historic hymns, engage in fellowship, and reminisce about the history and lasting legacy God has created at the Boston Baptist Church.
