A LOOK AT SOME OF THE 175 YEARS OF HISTORY OF

THE BETHEL BAPTIST ASSOCIATION

“What is the significance of anniversaries? You have only to think a moment for the answer.

He who does not look to the past to see the way we have come, cannot with clarity interpret

the present nor with courage chart the future.”

Quote from

Dr. Louie D. Newton’s

September 23, 1982 column in the Christian Index

1707-----The first Baptist Association founded in America was the Philadelphia

Association in Pa.

1733-----General James Edward Oglethorpe and 116 people arrived at Yamacraw Bluff on the

ship, Ann, to begin the colonization of Georgia. There must have been at least 1 or 2

Baptists on board the ship.

1771-----Rev. Daniel Marshall moved to Georgia from S.C.

1772-----Kiokee Baptist Church, the first Baptist church in Georgia, was founded by

Rev. Daniel Marshall.

1784-----The first Baptist association in the state was organized. The Georgia Baptist

Association had 5 churches.

1801-----First of three conferences was held at Powelton, Ga., which later led to the organization

of the Georgia Baptist State Convention.

1813-----A Baptist Foreign Mission Society was founded in Savannah.

1818-----Early County was constituted and was 3,750 square miles in size. It included the

present day counties of Early, Calhoun, Clay, Dougherty, Baker, Miller, Colquitt,

Mitchell, Thomas, Seminole, Decatur and Grady. There were no towns in the area

until a small village on the banks of the Chattahoochee was chartered as Ft. Gaines in

1830. Then Albany was chartered in 1838, Cuthbert in 1844, Lumpkin in 1850,

Georgetown in 1859, Blakely in 1870, Arlington in 1880 and Edison in 1902.

1822-----The General Baptist Association of the State of Georgia was constituted June 29,

1822, and was the beginning of the formation of the Georgia Baptist Convention.

1828-----The Columbus Association was organized becoming one of the 17 Baptist

associations in Georgia at this time.

1833-----The Christian Index moved to Washington, Ga. from Washington, D.C. Jessie

Mercer was the owner. Due to ill health in 1840 Mercer offered the Index to the

Georgia Baptist Convention and they accepted the offer. Mercer passed away in

September 1841.

One hundred seventy five years later the Index is still giving Georgia Baptists the

news of Baptist work at home, across the nation and around the world.

1833-----Mercer Institute was organized in Penfield, Ga.

1833-----THE BETHEL BAPTIST ASSOCIATION WAS ORGANIZED IN RICHLAND,

GA. Fifteen churches withdrew from the Columbus Association and on November

23^rd at Richland, Ga. these churches were constituted into the new Bethel Baptist

Association. The geographical area reached from Columbus south to the Florida line

and east from the Chattahoochee River to Dougherty, Webster and Sumter

Counties. Articles of Faith and a Constitution and By -Laws were adopted. These

have remained in place being amended or up-dated when necessary.

1839-----The question of being a Missionary versus an Anti-Missionary organization had been

an issue for Baptist churches for over a decade. The Association voted at the annual

meeting in 1839 to become a Missionary organization.

1840-----The Bethel Association gave its first offering for Domestic Missions --- $44.12 ½ .

The slavery question was a hot topic in both the North and the South.

The Association sent out its first missionary. Peter Ethridge was to labor in the

“destitute region” on our border in Alabama. He traveled 1,123 miles, preached

130 sermons, baptized 34 and constituted 2 churches. He was on the field 128 days

at $1.50 a day and he had to furnish his own horse.

1841-----All churches were urged to start Sabbath Schools though most small churches had

preaching only once a month. It was a struggle for many years to really get the schools

going on a regular basis. At every annual meeting of the Association the churches were

urged to start Sunday Schools and in this year of 2007 all the churches, including the

New Zion Church (Mission) reported having a Sunday School.

1842-----The Bethel Association voted to become a part of the Georgia Baptist Convention.

There were now 38 churches in the association with a membership of 2,429 made up

of both white and black people. Over the first years of the association, as new counties

were being chartered in the state, many drawing land from the original Early County,

new associations were being organized and churches were received and dismissed from

the Association. This was noted in the minutes of the Association every year till 1915

when Mt. Ararat was admitted. It was 47 years later in 1962 that Southside Church in

Blakely, Ga. was admitted. Faith Church in Cuthbert, Ga. was admitted in 1968 and

the New Zion Church in Blakely, Ga. was established as a mission of the Association

in 2003.

1845-----The Southern Baptist Convention was organized, in Augusta, Georgia, May 8-

12, along with 2 boards--Domestic Missions and Foreign Missions. The Bethel

Association voted to associate with and support this convention.

1846-----The first offering taken in the Bethel Association for Foreign Missions was $36.33.

1851-----The question of establishing a Female College in the Association at Cuthbert, Ga. for

the purpose of educating young ladies was discussed and approved. For the next 73

years the business and operation of the Bethel Female College was written into the

minutes of the Association in great detail. The events of secular history, the Civil War

and the following Reconstruction period, WW I, economic conditions of the nation,

crop failures, even epidemics and illnesses affected the college. Conditions caused it to

change hands several times and it was finally closed and the property sold in 1924.

The money from the sale of the property was placed with the Baptist Holding

Commission and the interest of this money was used to pay the tuition and board

of worthy boys and girls from the Association to attend Norman Junior College at

Norman Park, Georgia.

The importance of education has continued throughout the years and an annual

report is made to the Association of support of the Georgia Baptist Colleges and

The Southern Baptist Seminaries.

1852-----The Association voted to raise $500 by the next session to support a missionary

in Africa.

There were now 56 churches in the Association.

1853-----The Methodists started Andrew College in Cuthbert, Georgia which is still, in 2007,

offering educational advantages to young people of all faiths and walks of life. This

college has been a great blessing to its denomination through the years, as was the

Bethel Baptist College during the 73 years of its existence.

The question of temperance had been an important issue in the Association since its

organization. Temperance Committee Reports were made at each annual session.

For many years church members were excommunicated for the sale or use of alcohol.

After confession and repentance they could be reinstated to the church.

1854-----The Association employed Isaac B. Deavors as an instructor to the black members of

the Association.

1856-----Just what did it take to attend an associational meeting in 1856? A messenger to the

Bethel Association in that year writes in the Index of his trip from Morgan, Ga. to

Blakely, Georgia. “We traveled two days in horse drawn vehicles. Spent the night

with a hospitable brother in Randolph County and found domiciled for the night a

dozen other brothers and sisters bound for the Association. Next morning I soon found

myself a member of a caravan of a dozen vehicles headed for Blakely, which was

reached Friday afternoon. Services began Friday evening, embraced Sunday, and

continued through Tuesday afternoon. We left Wednesday morning, spent the night

with our generous host in Randolph Country, and arrived back home late Thursday

afternoon.” A round trip had required eight days and seven nights.

In this year of 2007 a trip from Morgan to Blakely takes about 30 to 40 minutes.

1857-----25^th ANNUAL SESSION OF THE BETHEL ASSOCIATION.

The Association now covered 11 counties, with a total of 59 churches in the

Association, 37 ordained ministers and 11 licensed ministers. There was a total

membership of 4,498 ( 3,228 whites and 1,267 blacks). The minutes listed the name of

each church, the year of its constitution and its pastor.

Dwight Hayes was appointed “missionary to the colored people of the association”.

Financial report: $59.90 for Minutes; $236.22 for Associational Funds; Home

Missions, $48.20; Domestic Missions, $58.17; Foreign Missions, $15.00; Central

African Missions, $586.87; Colporteur, $120.00; Total $1,152.36.

1858-----Missionaries of the association: William H. Clark and wife, Central Africa; J.R.

Hogue, Choctaw Nation; James Perryman, Creek Nation and Dwight Hayes.

1861-----The Civil War began and affected the people and the churches of the Association in

every possible way.

The churches were urged to contribute to the support of the work of the Bible

Colportage among the soldiers of the Confederate Army. In 1862, $1100 was collected

for the continued Army Mission and Colportage among the soldiers. The purpose

of the Georgia Bible and Colportage Society located at Macon, Ga. was the printing and

distribution of religious tracts and materials. This Society sent out men all across the

South with materials for the southern soldiers and could not keep up with demands for

more Christian reading materials. They contacted the American Bible Society, which

was located in the northern states, with a request for Bibles. This Society sent a

large number of Bibles through the military lines of the northern army to help its

sister society. One of the most requested pieces of material the southern soldiers asked

for was the Christian Index.

1863---- The churches of the Bethel Association were urged to increase the salaries of their

pastors so that they could visit the families of the soldiers and help obtain relief for the

more destitute families.

The Indian work was being continued by Bro. Hogue at the Armstrong Academy,

in the Choctaw Nation. The war had not reached that part of the country. The Mission

Board continued to pay the salaries of the native preachers.

1865-----The collections for Mission purposes were at a low ebb.

Classes at the Bethel College were being held in the president’s home as the college

building was being used as a military hospital.

At the annual meeting, for the first time, separate services were held for the white

and the black people. The white group met at the Blakely Baptist Church and the

blacks at the Blakely Methodist Church.

1866-----No foreign missionaries were on the field, due to the poverty caused by the Civil War.

For the first time there were more black members than white members in the

Association; this too was caused by the Civil War.

In the years following the war the South was in a terrible condition. Loss of lives,

poverty and rules issued to the southern states by the federal government caused

problems for the states to be readmitted into the union. Georgia was the last of the

states to sign the necessary papers for reinstatement in 1870.

1869-----During Reconstruction days the blacks were withdrawing from the white churches

and being urged to constitute churches of their own. As a result, our black brethren

desired to organize an association in Southwestern Ga. Delegates were sent from the

black churches to the Mt. Moriah Church in Stewart Co in November 1870 for the

organizational meeting. As their mother association they asked the Bethel Association

to set up a committee to aid, advise and instruct them in their organization.

1871-----The only mission work supported by the Association at this time was the Indian work.

Construction was begun on a home for orphan children in Atlanta, Ga. Some of the

women of the 2^nd Baptist Church of Atlanta recognized the need for a home for the

destitute and helpless children who were orphaned by the Civil War. In 1888 a charter

was received by the GBC, to establish the Georgia Baptist Asylum for Orphaned

Children. The first campus was opened in 1899 in Hapeville, Ga. In 1940 it became the

Georgia Baptist Children’s Home and a campus was added at Baxley, Ga. In 1956 the

Pine Mountian Campus was added and in 1968 the original campus was relocated to

Palmetto, Ga. Over the years many programs and ministries have been added to meet

the needs of the children of Ga. and again the name was changed in 1985 to Georgia

Baptist Children’s Home and Family Ministries. Today there are a number of homes,

for both children and adults with many different types of needs, in several locations

across the state. The Association has supported this work since its beginning, both

financially and for nearly 40 years (1920 until 1960) in the loading of 6 or more

railroad cars of produce every Fall. In this year of 2007, and for a number of preceding

years, the churches of the Association brought both food and non-food items to the

Annual meeting for loading trailers or trucks that were then driven to the proper

locations.

1873-----Mercer University was moved from Penfield, Ga. to Macon, Ga. and continues in this

year of 2007 to offer educational advantages to people of all races and cultures.

1874-----The Sunday School department was authorized by the State Convention.

1875-----A resolution was adopted by the Association asking each church to appoint a

committee to urge all members to contribute to the General Mission Work.

Support was still being given to Brother Hogue and the Indian Work.

1876-----No missionary labored in the bounds of the Association. Bro. L.R. Sims, however;

labored as a volunteer missionary traveling 1,149 miles, preaching 54 sermons,

baptizing 4 persons and assisted in ordaining one deacon.

Total gifts given that year was $409.80. Only 5 Sunday Schools were reported.

1877-----The State Mission Board was constituted. This board along with the now North

American Mission Board and the International Mission Board have continued

for all the years of the Bethel Association to give Baptist people ways to serve God

by both giving and going. We give through the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering

for North American Missions, the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International

Missions and the State Mission Offering each year.

1878-----Brother Thomas Muse was requested to prepare, at his leisure, a history of the Bethel

Association from its organization to the present.

1882-----50^th ANNUAL SESSION OF THE BETHEL BAPTIST ASSOCIATION.

There were 40 churches in the association with 22 reporting Sunday Schools.

Total gifts to all causes were $1,180. Total membership was 3,573.

1883-----The Association pledged $3,000 to aid in the endowment of Mercer University.

In 1884 the Association gave $1,560 to Mercer.

1885-----The Baptist Young Peoples Union (BYPU) was organized. Its purpose was for the

teaching and training of young people to serve God in and through the local

church and out into the whole world. After two name changes: Baptist Training

Union, then Church Training Union, the present term now in 2007 is Discipleship

Training. Sixteen of our 34 churches have Discipleship Training.

1886-----The minutes reported that a newspaper, The Bethel News, was being printed.

Brother Thomas Muse was reappointed as the Colporteur for the Association.

1887-----The Association was divided into 4 districts: 1. Early and Clay Counties.

2. Calhoun and Terrell Counties. 3. Randolph County. 4. Stewart and Quitman

Counties.

1888-----The Woman’s Missionary Union was organized as an Auxiliary to the Southern Baptist

Convention.

1889-----The Association resolved to build a cottage on the Mercer campus named for J.T. Clark,

a well respected lawyer, preacher and judge in the Association.

There had been a student at Mercer for the last 4 years from the Association.

1890-----The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary opened promoting Christian Education.

Cuthbert, Georgetown and Enon churches reported organization of Woman’s

Missionary Unions.

1891-----Brother Thomas Muse turned over to the Executive Committee of the Association the

minutes he had kept of the Association for over 50 years. Bro. Muse was responsible

for starting several of the churches of the Association, starting the Executive

Committee and serving on it for many years, starting The Bethel Female College

and serving as a trustee for the college for many years. He and his wife had a boarding

house where the college students lived. He traveled the Association on horse back to

preach at nearly all of the churches, baptized about 3,000 persons, served as the

Colporteur across the Association several different times and served as moderator of

the Association for 25 years.

1895-----Bro. Thomas Muse passed away April 19, 1895 having lived in the Association for 59

years. Brother Muse was born in April 1810, in Va., migrated to Georgia by way of

New York and Tallahassee, Fl. He arrived in Blakely, Georgia, in 1836 to start a third

store. He started a prayer meeting at the store that resulted in the formation of the

Macedonia Baptist church, presently the First Baptist Church of Blakely.

He is buried in the Cuthbert, Georgia city cemetery.

1900-----Woman’s Missionary Union was organized in the association.and the minutes printed

in the minute book for the first time. This was a fast growing organization. More

societies were started in the churches each year, gifts to mission causes increased

and Sunbeam Bands, Girls Auxilaries, and Royal Ambassador groups, for the

children, were organized in most of the churches.

1901-----In a rented 5 room house the Tabernacle Infirmary opened to offer medical assistance

to the people of Atlanta, Ga. This later became the Georgia Baptist Hospital and for

over 100 years it continued to care for the medical needs of all races, classes and

creeds. A training school for nurses opened in 1902 and was closed in 1992 giving

way for the opening of the Georgia Baptist College of Nursing in 1989. The hospital

grew and changed with the changing times. By the 1990’s the hospital had placed

medical facilities in 9 different locations in the state. It also had the first Life Flight

Helicopter Emergency Service in the state of Ga. In 1995 the Georgia Baptist

Medical Center merged with HCA and the downtown property, in Atlanta, was sold.

The people and churches of Georgia have supported the hospital with an annual

Hospital Day Offering.

1907-----75^th ANNUAL SESSION OF THE BETHEL BAPTIST ASSOCIATION.

Twenty nine of the 38 churches in the Association reported having Sunday Schools.

Total gifts: $3,681.22.

1908-----The Associational Woman’s Missionary Union was divided into 2 districts, with

20 of the churches reporting having organizations.

1909-----A Layman’s Movement was organized, the forerunner of the Brotherhood

organization.

1913-----In a survey taken by the Georgia Baptist Convention, excluding towns and cities,

there was one Baptist Church for every 40 square miles.

1917-----During World War I mission work was being done among the soldiers.

1918-----The influenza epidemic across Southwest Ga. caused the Association to meet for only

one day.

1919-----The Association was participating in the $75,000,000 Campaign of the Southern Baptist

Convention. For several years special offerings were taken for this project.

1921-----The Association was divided into 7 districts.

1. Ft.Gaines, Bethel, Georgetown, Midway, Mt. Gilead and Mt. Vernon.

2. Blakely, Beulah, Colomokee, Hilton, New Hope, Pine View, Providence,

Sowhatchee and Mt. Ararat.

3. Edison, Enterprise, Morgan, Bluffton, New Bethel and Salem.

4. Arlington, Bethany, Damascus (Early), Elmodel, Hillside, Leary and Milford.

5. Shellman, Dover, Elim, Friendship and Rehoboth.

6. Cuthbert, Damascus (Randolph ), Enon, Morris, Springvale, Mt. Hebron and

Carnegie.

7. Coleman, Vilulah, Mt. Vernon, Shiloh and Antioch.

1922-----The Bethel Association Encampment was held at Bluffton for the religious training of

people from all over the state. This Encampment was held every summer for 10 years

and was attended by large numbers of people; 229 in 1931 with over 200 visitors each

day. Classes were conducted by preachers and lay people, and missionaries, home on

furlough, gave great inspirational messages. Churches in the Association supplied

food and workers in the kitchen. This was the forerunner of the present day camping

program.

1923-----A new Associational Constitution and By-Laws was voted on and adopted.

1925-----The Cooperative Program was a plan of giving adopted by the Southern Baptist

Convention. The plan was adopted by most of the churches in the Association and

continues to the present time.

1926-----Miss Eva Guillebeau was now at work in the Association as an Associational

Worker, visiting the various churches, teaching classes and organizing the work.

1931-----Plans were made for the Centennial meeting the next year.

1932-----THE 100^th ANNUAL SESSION OF THE BETHEL BAPTIST ASSOCIATION

was held at the Edison Baptist Church. Sermons and addresses were delivered by Dr.

Louie D. Newton of Atlanta; Dr. Spright Dowell, President of Mercer University; Rev.

M. L. Lawson; Dr. Carl L. Devane of Alexandria, La.; Dr. Raleigh White; Rev .J. W.

Framer; Dr. J.E. Sammons, President of the Georgia Baptist Convention; Rev. A

Barnum Hawkes and Rev. W. D. (Uncle Billy) Hammack, Coleman, Ga. who was then

in his ninetieth year. The 3 day session was well attended by Association members

and many visitors. There were 42 churches in the association with a membership of

5,507. Cooperative Program gifts were $5,716.83.

1933-----The SBC organized the Hundred Thousand Club. The churches in the Association

participated in this endeavor as they had done with other projects over several years.

God’s Acre, Butter, Egg, Pig and Calf projects were offered to help the farmer and his

family find money for mission projects in the Depression Days of the 1920’s and

1930’s. Later programs such as The Every Member Canvass (1936), Debt Free by ’43,

and A Million More in’54 showed people the advantage of working together to meet

the needs.

It was the 25^th Anniversary of the R. A.’s and the 100^th Anniversary of both the

Index and Mercer University.

1934-----The Association gave Miss Annie Sandlin, of Cuthbert, Ga., $100 to be used for her

mission work in China.

The book entitled “History of Bethel Association Including Centennial Meeting” by

A. L. Miller of Edison had been printed and was on sale for $2.00 a copy.

1937-----It was recommended that a Workers Council be formed to meet and plan work for the

Association.

The Head of the State Brotherhood Department visited the Association urging the

Organization of Brotherhood programs in all of the local churches.

An appeal was made at the annual meeting for the continued support of the

Annuity Board program, which was begun in 1916.

1940-----World War II, which began in Europe in 1939, was causing great concern for our

Foreign Mission work, and by the time the United States entered the war in 1941 many

of the missionaries had returned home,

1942-----Only 1 missionary was left in Europe, in Spain. In Japan Dr. Maxwell Garrett had

refused to leave when the other missionaries left and it was reported that he was in a

POW camp in Tokyo.

1943-----Because of the gas rationing the Association met for only one day.

1944-----The Executive Committee asked for the authority to investigate and be empowered

to employ an Associational Field Worker and to find ways to secure the funds to pay

the worker.

The State WMU revealed plans for a Camp to be located in North Georgia near

Clayton, Georgia.

1945-----REV. W.R.CALLOWAY began serving as the first Associational Field Worker August

15, 1945. He served through June 1946, a total of 10 months. This position later

became known as the “Associational Missionary”.

1946-----The second Associational Field Worker REV. LAMAR BROOKS began serving

September 1946 and served for 1 year, until September 1947.

The Sunbeam Bands had been in operation for 60 years and the Children’s Home

for 75 years.

The first mention of the Training Union event of “M”(Mobilization) Night was

made. This has been a continuous event. The highest ever attendance for one meeting

was in 1953 when two groups met in two different towns with 1,377 people present.

The name “M” Night was changed to Associational Discipleship Rally in 1995.

1947-----The State WMU Camp at Clayton, Ga., Camp Pinnacle, opened offering summer

camping for the children, youth and women of the state. This camp has been in

continuous operation.

REV.G. A. COOPER began serving as the Associational Field Worker in

December, and he served for 2 years and 3 months, until March 1950.

The State Brotherhood Department was organized.

1948-----The war in Palestine forced all our missionaries to leave the country.

The WMU observed its 60^th Anniversary

The Cuthbert Church organized a Brotherhood group.

The annual report of the Field Worker was included in the minutes for the first

time. Some of his service and activities included: days on the field, 266; miles

traveled, 14,515; churches visited, 134; Sunday Schools visited, 31; mission points

visited, 8; other services visited, 65; visits in homes, 252; soul-winning

conferences, 25; letters and cards written, 678; tracts given out, 2,955; sermons

preached, 65; addresses, 22; committee meetings, 16; group and Associational

conferences, 25; individual conferences on church work, 78; and community visits,

168, plus 18 conferences of various groups both in and outside of the Association. He

edited and distributed 3 issues of “The Bethel News” (2,300 copies) and he purchased

a 16mm RCA projector and equipment and showed films on evangelism and soul-

winning to 50 different groups.

1949-----The churches in Cuthbert and Edison now had Brotherhoods.

The Executive committee asked that a separate treasurer for the Associational

Field Worker’s Fund be elected at the next meeting and that all funds for the

Associational Field Worker be kept separate from the regular funds of the

Association.

1950-----REV. J. R. BOWEN became the fourth Associational Field Worker in September and

served for 9 years and 6 months until March 1960.

The Georgia Baptist Convention established a Brotherhood Department offering

missionary education and service programs for the men and boys of the church.

1951-----Thirty of the Association Churches cooperated with the state wide Simultaneous

Evangelistic Crusade.

Nineteen boys and 5 counselors attended R.A. Camp and 26 girls and 7 counselors

attended G.A. Camp. This was the first camp to be held since the 1930’s. No location

for the camps was given. The camping experience for the children and youth has

continued for nearly every year meeting at different locations over the years. These

included neighboring associations, Camp Hicita at Kolomoki State Park near

Blakely, Georgia and on the campus of Andrew College in Cuthbert , Georgia.

1953-----Fifty-four boys and girls attended 2 weeks of camp in a neighboring association.

Starting in July the Association sponsored a Saturday morning Radio Program

called “The Bethel Hour” which was aired over the WDWD Radio Station in Dawson,

Ga. These programs were led by the pastors with several programs led by Mrs. Harvey

Jordan, of Leary, Ga., the Association WMU Superintendent. These programs

continued until December 1954.

1954-----The question of securing a home for the Associational Field Worker and how to fund

it was brought up at the Annual Fall meeting of the Association. A committee was

appointed to research the question and report to the Executive Committee.

A Business Woman’s Federation (for the women working away from the home)

has been organized as part of the Associational WMU. Seven churches reported having

organized a group.

The summer camp under the direction of Bro. Bowen, the Associational Field

Worker, was held at Camp Hicita at Kolomoki State Park, with 116 boys and girls

in attendance. Pastors and dedicated lay people from across the Association made up

the staff.

The first Associational School of Church Music was held at the Cuthbert Church

and was conducted by Dr. Edmond D. Keith, State Associate Secretary of Church

Music.

1955-----The Association bought the Stewart house in Edison, Ga. as a combination residence

and office for the Associational Missionary for $5,000.

This was the year the name was changed from Associational Field Worker to

Associational Missionary.

A committee was appointed to place a marker in Cuthbert, Ga. at the site of the

Bethel Female College.

1956-----The Georgia Baptist Convention opened Baptist Village, first home for senior adults,

located in Waycross, Ga. One of the first people to enter the home was Mrs. H. T.

(Mary) Singleton of Edison, Ga. This work has continued until the present time with

several other locations being opened across the state for the caring of elderly people.

The R. A. work in the local churches was moved from the WMU Department to the

Brotherhood Department.

1957-----125 ^th SESSION OF THE BETHEL ASSOCIATION. There are now 38 churches in

the Association with a total membership of 7,072, with 4,718 resident members and

2,354 non-resident members. Twenty-four of the churches have less than 100

members. Total Cooperative Program gifts was $21,823. Total gifts to all local

causes was $238,202.

1958-----The marker for the college site arrived and was ready for placement. A short history

of the college was included in the annual minute book of the Association on page 29.

1960-----REV. G. L. (Gordon) BROOKS became the fifth Associational Missionary, serving 2

years and 8 months from April 1960 through December 1962.

1963-----REV. J. V. PITTMAN became the sixth Associational Missionary. He served for 5

years until sometime in early 1968.

The Georgia Baptist Assembly, located at Toccoa, Ga., opened for conferences and

meetings and has continued to offer programs and events.

Southside Baptist Church in Blakely, Ga., requested membership in the Bethel

Association. This was the first new church organized and admitted in the Association

since Mt. Ararat was admitted in 1915.

1968-----REV. CARL CULPEPPER became the seventh Associational Missionary, serving for

16 years until June of 1984.

Faith Baptist Church was organized in Cuthbert, Ga. and was admitted in the

Association.

1969-----Miss India Everson of the Edison Baptist Church advanced to the second highest rank

in the Forward Steps program in the G.A. Organization. The next year, 1970, after one

year of college, she served as a counselor at Camp Pinnacle, the WMU camp located

near Clayton, Ga.

1971-----Rev. Wallace DuVall, Foreign Missionary to Nigeria for 15 years, spoke at the annual

Fall session of the Association.

The association held its first R.A. Congress meeting at the Southside Baptist Church

in Blakely, Ga. with nearly 100 boys and adults in attendance.

1973-----The Shellman Baptist Church held a service of dedication for Rev. and Mrs. Cleve

Buttermere for foreign mission service to Costa Rica.

1976-----In the interest of time a motion was made at the annual meeting that all reports, which

had been being given during the meeting, be compiled into one book and handed out at

the beginning of the annual session. The motion was adopted.

1977-----The Home Mission Board, of the SBC, established a Sister State Partnership program

which promoted the opportunity for greater mission work within the nation. New York

was the first Ga. Baptist state partnership in 1977 and it was renewed in 1985. Others

which followed were: Connecticut in 1991, Alaska and the Chicago Metropolitan

Baptist Association in 1995 and Utah-Idaho in 2000. These partnerships were usually

for a three year duration.

Donna Blackburn, of the Vilulah Community, served as a State BSU Summer

Missionary. This marked the beginning of a long career in Student Work. At the age

of 9, Donna accepted the call into full time Christian Ministry while attending the

Summer Association youth camp at Camp Hicita, at the Kolomoki State Park.

During her formative years her home church Vilulah Baptist, and the consistent

Christian life style of its members, provided the firm foundation of her faith.

The summer camp program also played a very important part in her faith development,

both as a camper and later as a camp staffer.

In college she was very involved in the Baptist Student Union. After college, at

Wesleyan and Tift, she served as the Summer youth worker at the First Baptist Church

in Cuthbert, Ga. From there she moved to Atlanta, Ga. where she began her ministry as

a State Missionary with the GBC. For twelve and one half years she served as Missions

Coordinator of the Department of Student Work. During those years she continued her

education at Columbia Presbyterian Seminary and Georgia State University, earning

her Master’s of Education Degree in Adult Education.

In 1991, she began her ministry as the Associate Campus Minister at the Georgia

Southern University Baptist Student Union in Statesboro, Ga. and also the Campus

Minister of the East Georgia College BSU in Swainsboro, Ga.

She has taken students on mission trips to Florida, South Carolina, Texas, Louisiana,

the North-Eastern United States, Germany and France. She has served as Special

Projects Coordinator and President of the Georgia Baptist Student Union State Alumni

Association and was in charge of the Reunion Celebration to commemorate the 75^th

anniversary of the BSU in Georgia.

1980-----All of the Associational Missionaries, since 1955, have lived in the house which was

bought in 1955 and also doubled as the Association Office building. A study

committee was appointed by the Executive Committee to look into the buying of a new

house or the building of a new house as the residence for the Associational Missionary.

The Association responded with Disaster Relief to the Mobile, Al. area by sending

20 tons of ice and hiring the semi-truck to deliver the ice.

The Cuthbert and Shellman churches participated in the Rev. E. J. Daniels

Evangelistic Crusade, Tell Georgia.

1981-----A World Mission Conference was held with 20 churches participating.

1982-----150^th ANNUAL SESSION OF THE BETHEL BAPTIST ASSOCIATION

was held at the Edison Baptist Church, Edison Ga. on October 12, 1982. Special

Anniversary Guest speaker was Rev. Ches W. Smith III, President of the Georgia

Baptist Convention. Dr. Louie D. Newton had addressed the 100^th Anniversary

meeting in 1932 and was expected back for this session. Due to illness he was not

able to attend but sent his greetings.

There were 38 churches in the Association with a total membership of 7,410,

with 5,170 resident members and 2,240 non-resident members. A number of

organizations reported: Sunday Schools 35; Church Training Unions 13; Woman’s

Missionary Unions 27 and Brotherhoods 14. Cooperative Program gifts totaled

$119,375; gifts to Associational Missions $19,466; gifts to other mission causes

$216,733. Total gifts to Missions $236,199 and total money given by all the

churches for all causes $1,530,635.

1984-----REV. MARCUS HICKS became the eighth Associational Missionary serving 14 years

and 4 months, from July 1984 until October 1998. During his tenure the name was

changed from Associational Missionary to Director of Missions (DOM) .

The Executive Committee accepted a motion from the Board of Trustees to convert

the missionary residence into an office and conference space. The motion

was seconded and passed. A DOM housing allowance was added to the Association

budget. Later in the year the Board of Trustees reported to the Executive Committee

that the property that was purchased in 1955 was L shaped and that the bottom part of

the L had been sold to the neighbors next door for $1,200. This money would be

applied to the renovation of the office.

The Georgia Baptist Convention entered into an international partnership with

Liberia in 1984. Others which followed were: Panama in 1988; Germany in 1990;

France in 2001; Moldova in 2002 and Mexico in 2006. These were usually for a 3 year

duration.

Dr. James O. Dorriety, pastor of First Baptist Church of Blakely, Ga., went on a

mission trip to Zimbabwe.

1985-----The WMU contributed new drapes and other decorations for the newly renovated

Associational office.

Miss Beth McAllister, of the Faith Baptist Church of Cuthbert, Ga., went as a

US2 missionary to Bakersfield, Ca.

The youth group of the First Baptist Church of Blakely, Ga. went on a summer

mission trip to Puerto Rico.

Camp Glenn, the R.A. camp near Brunswick, Ga., was sold and property was

bought at Forsyth, Ga., for a new camp to be named Camp Kaleo.

1986-----Rev. and Mrs. W. C. Ruchti, retired missionaries from Italy, spoke at the Fall

Associational meeting. Mrs. Ruchti is the sister of Mrs. Wallace DuVall, missionary

to Nigeria.

Open house was held at the newly renovated office building February 9^th.

Twenty-seven churches were enrolled in the Simultaneous Revivals in March.

Several churches reported participating in the “Good News America, God Loves

You” revivals.

Rev. and Mrs. Ray Shelton, retired missionaries, served as the Summer Camp

missionaries.

1987-----A decision was made to have two meetings of the Association during the year. The

election of officers was moved from the Fall meeting to the Spring meeting, so that

new leaders could attend training conferences offered in the Spring and Summer.

1988-----Twenty-four churches participated in the World Mission Conference. There were

14 missionaries in attendance.

Joy and Art Redding, of the First Baptist Church of Blakely, Ga., went on an 18 day

Volunteer Medical Mission Trip to Tanzania, E. Africa. Joy, a nurse, and Art, a

pharmacist, joined 14 other volunteers on this trip sponsored by the Foreign Mission

Board of the SBC and the Virginia Baptist Convention.

A group, called Baptist Builders, has been organized to go from place to place

across the state helping churches and organizations with building projects.

1990-----Hurricane Hugo created wide spread disaster across the Caribbean area and the

mainland USA. The people of the Association responded by sending several vehicles

of supplies to the neighboring states. Three people went as workers. The people of

the Association gave $12, 080.70 to be used for Disaster Relief.

Central heat and air conditioning was installed at the Associational Office.

Twenty-four churches participated in the Simultaneous Revivals.

A Missions Fair was held at the First Baptist Church in Blakely, Ga., May 6, 1990.

Twelve different departments of the Georgia Baptist Convention were represented

with displays and booths. More than 325 people attended the event.

1992------At the fall meeting of the Association a motion was made, seconded and passed that

the Association adopt a resolution urging members of our churches to take a stand and

vote NO against the Georgia Lottery.

1993------A World Mission Conference was held in March with 15 missionaries present. It was

reported to be one of the best conferences ever, even though one missionary had to be

replaced the day before the meetings started and a substitute had to be found quickly.

Another missionary had to leave in the middle of the week because of a family crisis.

Everyone said they would never forget the “blizzard of ‘93” that caused the Saturday

night service to be cancelled.

Mrs. Ruel Everson, from Edison, Ga., resigned as the clerk of the Association after

serving in this capacity for twenty-one years. The Association expressed its appreci-

ation for her many years of service to the Association.

The Associational Missionary, Rev. Marcus Hicks, made a proposal that the jobs

of the clerk and the office secretary be combined into one job, and that a set salary be

included in the budget. This was approved.

Fourteen men from the Association went on a work detail to Camp Pinnacle to do

repair work on the cabin that is assigned to our Association.

1994-----The flood of ’94, which caused so much destruction in the southwest part of the state,

became an opportunity for ministry for the people and the churches of the Association.

Many volunteers went to Albany, Ga. and Newton, Ga. taking needed supplies of food,

clothing, household items and cleaning supplies. Money was also collected and sent

through the proper channels.

The Calhoun Correctional Institution (CCI), located in Morgan, Ga., opened in

1994. Mr. Mitten Crenshaw, the prison chaplain, spoke at the Annual Associational

meeting telling of the opportunities for volunteers at the prison. A number of men,

from several of the churches in the association, took the necessary training to be able

to go into the prison. They have started a Sunday School class and a Bible Study

group. The Association spent $502.50 for new Bibles for the prison. This work

continues.

1995-----In January, Articles of Incorporation were placed with the office of the Secretary

of State, in Atlanta, Ga., for the incorporation of the Association.

1996-----The WMU ladies filled 1,200 hospitality bags that would be given out to the many

visitors who came to Georgia for the 1996 summer Olympics. They also collected

500 personal hygiene items and contributed $500 that was sent to missionary Karen

Gray in Vetorie, Brazil, for use in her work with AIDS victims.

Two of the pastors of the Association, Rev. Ken Blackwood, Cuthbert First

Baptist and Rev. Robert Bracewell, of the Georgetown Baptist church, went on a

mission trip to India.

The churches of the Association donated 2,700 pounds of food and other

supplies for the Children’s Home.

1997-----The Bethel Association Advisory Council recommended the establishing of an

annual Associational offering. This would be taken during the annual Associational

Mission Emphasis Week and the money used for Capital Improvements. Adopted by

majority vote.

1999-----REV, JAMES HOLLOWAY became the ninth Associational Missionary in April

1999 and is still serving the Association at the present time, 2007. Note that once

again the name has been changed, from Director of Missions back to Associational

Missionary.

The International Mission Board, of the SBC, sent out a request to all the churches

for help with a project entitled “Love Gifts to North Korea.” Crop failures had created

a famine situation and we were asked to send rice, corn, soybeans and peanuts.

Rev. Bruce Pafford, Minister of Music at the First Baptist Church in Blakely, Ga.,

went on a 10 day Mission Trip to Alaska with the Sons of Jubal, a male choral group

consisting of full time Ministers of Music from the state of Georgia.

The Colomokee Youth Ministries Group went on two mission trips.

2000-----New By-Laws were adopted. Then a motion was made to amend the new By-Laws

to replace the 1963 Baptist Faith and Message and to incorporate the new 2000 Baptist

Faith and Message as our Statement of Faith. This motion was to be discussed in the

local churches during the up-coming year and voted on at the 2001 annual meeting.

Our Association began participating in the “Sister State Partnership” with Utah-

Idaho Convention. Rev. James Holloway presented a Covenant Agreement that was

drawn up between our Association and the Eastern Idaho Southern Baptist

Association.

In response to the 1999 IMB request for grains to be sent to North Korea

our Association collected 20 bags of rice and corn. These had to be bagged in special

bags, which when filled weighed 110 pounds each. Many tons of peanuts were

bagged in Colquitt, Ga. The bags were then sent to seaports for shipment to

North Korea.

Preparations were underway to begin a Hispanic Ministry in the Association.

2001-----The Association began its first English as a Second Language (ESL) Ministry at the

Morgan Baptist Church. Volunteers from four different churches were involved in this

Ministry. Several ministers from the Association took part in the group devotion

time and there were 20 students enrolled in the program.

A patriotic musical presentation, “With Liberty and Justice for All,” with a mass

choir of people from the churches of the Bethel Association, drew around 900 people

to the Mangham Auditorium in Blakely, Ga. on July 1^st.

Eight men from our area trained for, and participated in, the “Operation Starting

Line” outreach at the CCI in Morgan.

In March eight preachers from the Eastern Idaho Southern Baptist Association

came to our Association and preached in simultaneous revivals. Over the 3 year

partnership a number of people from our Association made a total of 8 trips to Idaho,

working in several different programs and events.

The youth group from the Colomokee Baptist Church made a mission trip to

Hendersonville, N. C.

The Association sponsored its first ministry at local Fall Festivals at

Kolomoki State Park and at “Christmas at the Fort” in Ft. Gaines, Ga.

At the annual Fall meeting, the Association voted to accept the 2000 Baptist Faith

and Message as our Statement of Faith.

Bethel Association created its first website: www.bethelassociation.com

2002-----As a continuing part of the ESL program, to help people be better able to minister to

our Hispanic neighbors, a six week course in “Conversational Spanish” was taught

by Dr. Terrell Ruis, our SW Georgia Ministry Resource Consultant. Thirty people

were enrolled in the course.

Several people from the Association took part in Phase1 Disaster Relief training

in Albany, Ga. More volunteers are always needed but one must have the training

to be permitted on disaster sites.

Our R. A. boys enjoyed the First Associational Racer Derby that had been held

in many years.

On April 21^st, the First Baptist Church of Blakely hosted a joint worship

service with several of the churches in our Association and the Mt. Pilgrim Baptist

Church, of Albany. Ga. Mt. Pilgrim was the first African-American church in the

Mallary Association and they and the African-American Raines Baptist Church of

Dawson, Ga., partnered with volunteers from 7 of our Bethel Association churches

in a summer mission VBS outreach to Baptist Branch Homes, in Blakely, Ga.

There were 42 children and youth enrolled in the Bible school.

There was an ongoing effort to start a Southern Baptist African-American

Church in the Blakely area. A prospective Pastor was found and began the evaluation

process of the Georgia Baptist Convention.

2003-----In November 2003 Jimmie Terrell from the GBC led a training session for church

leaders, especially for Church Finance Committees on how to set-up a ministry-

based budget. Then in March of 2003 there was a Church Treasurer’s Workshop with

emphasis on pastor’s compensation issues and IRS compliance.

The ESL ministry continued to grow with a second location started at the Arlington

Baptist Church. A workshop was held in November to train new leaders and 5 people

participated in the training.

A target date of January, 2004 was set for starting worship services for the new

African-American mission.

The Idaho Partnership agreement “officially” expired but we continued to offer

help to the Eastern Idaho Southern Baptist Association. Two of our young people

served on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in the summer and 2 pastors preached

revivals in September.

The Association began studying the possibility of an International Partnership with

Mexico.

2004-----At the fall meeting of the Bethel Association, Ewell Jarrett presented recommendations

from the Building Committee that a new office building be constructed on the same

lot as the existing building in Edison, Ga. Design drawings were included in his report.

There was $25,133.78 in the building fund and no construction would begin until the

fund reached $50,000. At this time local financing could be arranged for the balance of

the construction costs.

Rev. and Mrs. Gary Hadden, from the Arlington Baptist Church, and Rev. James

Holloway, Associational Missionary, each made fact finding trips to Mexico, in

preparation for future mission trips.

Eight men from the Mt. Gilead Church went to El Salvador to help build a

dormitory for Salvadoran pastors at Santa Anna.

Another group of eight people, from several of the churches in the Association,

participated in Summer Vacation Bible Schools in Scotland. Rev. Dan Gillum, of

the New Bethel Baptist Church, coordinated this trip.

Erin House, a young lady from the Cuthbert Baptist Church, spent two months in

S. Africa on a mission trip with a youth group.

Rev. Bruce Pafford, Minister of Music of First Baptist Blakely, went on a Mission

trip to Moldova, with the Sons of Jubal. This trip was part of the Georgia Baptist

Convention’s partnership with Moldova.

For nine months the New Zion Church (Mission) had been meeting at the Baptist

Branch Homes in Blakely, Ga. Average attendance had been between 12 and 13. A

store building in the Station West Shopping Center had been under renovation for

several weeks. A Dedication and Open House was held on November 14. Several

groups and ministry opportunities had been participated in with good attendance.

In October 2004, six people from our association went to Playa del Carmen, on

the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, for the purpose of building pews for the Fila-

delfia Baptist Church. They also taught English as a second language at night,

handed out tracts in the afternoon, and showed the movie “The Passion of the Christ”

on two nights.

2005-----Hurricane Katrina left behind many, many, opportunities for mission service.

The Association partnered with the Lilly Orchard Baptist Church near

Escataupa, Ms. Several groups made trips helping to rebuild the church.

Fifteen people from the Association, who had had the Disaster Relief training,

and were on call with the GBC Disaster Relief food program, made two trips to

Westwego, La., where they spent a week at a time feeding some of the volunteers,

who were working in the clean-up operation. On the first trip, 2 weeks after the

hurricane hit in late August, they served 10,000 meals a day!!! The second trip

was in October. The churches also responded by collecting and sending food,

water, clothing and money. The youth group from First Baptist Blakely made two

trips to Gulfport, Ms. helping several families clean up their houses.

Nine of the Association churches participated in the Wave Revivals.

The Coleman Baptist Church, which had been closed for some time, was making

an effort to restart.

Rev. Tom McClendon, pastor of the First Baptist Church, Cuthbert, Ga., was

invited by the CEE (Central and Eastern Europe) leaders of the IMB, to participate

in a Virtual Strategy Planning and Training session so that his church might become

involved as a partner in church planting. He was given Smolensk, Russia as his

target. Bro. McClendon, and his son Tommy, spent 10 days in Russia on a fact

finding trip to identify specific ministries and partnerships that might be developed.

Rev. Howard Scott, Ft. Gaines Baptist Church, did mission work with Campers on

Mission in Kentucky.

Rev. Tommy Mullis, from the Transylvania Association in Western North

Carolina, spoke at one of the Executive Committee meetings about the mission

opportunities in that area. The Association began planning two trips to N.C.; one for

youth and the other for adults.

2006-----Relief work continued along the Gulf Coast and 3 teams from the Association

went on mission trips to the region.

Contributions for the new office Building Fund reached the $50,000 goal

and a ground breaking was held on February 12. It was a freezing cold day!

In April 2006, four people from our Association joined with another group for an

8 day mission trip to Bay St. Louis, Ms.

The Cuthbert 1^st Church sent a mission team to Smolensk, Russia in June.

Eight men from the Association went back to Playa del Carmen, Mexico, in

September to help build more rooms on to the Baptist Church .

The Association had 22 people trained in Disaster Relief. Fourteen more went for

training, bringing our number to 36 trained people.

Totals for 34 of the 35 churches listed in the Associational Minutes for the year

2005-2006 are: Sunday Schools, 34; Discipleship Training, 17; WMU’s, 23; Men’s

Ministry, 21; gifts to the Cooperative Program, $298,894; Associational Missions,

$113,290; State Missions, $25,000; Annie Armstrong, $41,907; Lottie Moon, $84,053;

Other gifts, $112,375. Total of all receipts, $4,097,236.

The minutes of the 2006-2007 year are yet to be written. We have a long, fruitful history.

From early in the 19^th century, men on foot and on horse back and families in covered wagons moved into a wilderness territory that had, just prior to their coming, been in the possession of the Native American Indian. It was a land of no roads, no bridges over the streams or rivers and no towns. Yet they came, carving out homesteads, establishing towns, building churches and schools, growing with the changing times until we have reached this fast paced, technological, space age of the 21^st century.

As we stand on the threshold of the 175th Anniversary Year of 2007-2008 we cannot rest on our laurels. During World War II, at the height of the blitz in Great Britain, someone wrote on the wall of one of the underground air raid shelters “There is not enough darkness in all the world to put out the light of one small candle.” As long as there are lost people in the world there is a need for continued mission work to reach them with the salvation message of Jesus Christ,

the light of the world. For many of us the torch must be passed to the younger generation, to keep the work moving ever forward. Twenty-five years from now they will be looking at the up-coming 200^th Anniversary of the Association. What will the minutes books of the Association reveal of them as keepers of the faith and the flame?

Respectfully submitted

Mrs. Ruel Everson

Edison Baptist Church, Edison, Ga.

Mrs. Henry Herndon

Beulah Baptist Church, Cedar Springs, Ga.

Mrs. J. T. Manry

First Baptist Church, Blakely, Ga.