HISTORY OF GOSHEN BAPTIST CHURCH
LINCOLN COUNTY, GEORGIA
By G.E. Norman, Lincolnton, Georgia, 1937
This year is the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the
founding of
Goshen Baptist Church. And this day is an occasion to which we who love
this old church have long looked, because it celebrates the birthday of the
old church which we love so much.
Some of the earliest records have been lost, and the records from 1869
to 1903 are also lost; however, the records from 1802 to 1867 are well
preserved, considering the time that has elapsed since they were written.
So we are at a loss to know exactly many things connected with the early
history of the church, and many important facts relative its noble founder.
According to Robinson's HISTORY OF THE GEORGIA BAPTIST
ASSOCIATION, "Goshen Church, Lincoln County, was constituted in
1787 It was located two miles east of Goshen and called Soap Creek until
1793 then Rocky Spring. The name was finally changed to Goshen in 1817.
About 1810 the Baptists, Methodists and Presbyterians built a house of
worship one-fourth of a mile from Goshen, all using the same building for
a time. In 1835 the Baptists erected a splendid church, since which time
they have worshiped in the new building."
This historic old church, having been organized in 1787, is the second
oldest Baptist church in the county. It was, in fact, the first Baptist church
to be organized in the county, but it is three years younger than Greenwood
church which was organized in 1784 in Wilkes County, later being moved
to Lincoln County to its present location near Amity, Ga.
This old church building, the one in which we are worshiping and
celebrating today, having been erected in 1835, is now one hundred and two
years old As is evident to all, it is a large well-built structure, and in
perfect
state of preservation. Its materials are of original forest pine, for the most
part and its sills and sleepeers, being sixty feet in length, were hewn from
the same kind of pine, the ax prints of its worthy builders being plainly
visible The rafters are of the same material, being 8 by 8 and are 27 feet
long Its doors were durably made, their hinges being home-made, as you
can see, and the doors can be readily listed out and set aside at will. No one
has changed them, and we hope that no one ever will. We want them, and
the old church, to stand as they are, a monument to the builders, and an
ever present reminder of the faith and standards of our beloved
forefathers.
And in passing, we cannot but think and ponder what the old church
building could say if it could speak, what a wonderful story it could tell, a