History of Ebenezer Baptist Church

Memories from Clarence White

The Ebenezer Baptist Church, one of the oldest churches in the county, was organized April 16, 1936 (1836), in Sumter County, 5 miles from Pond Town.  The prysbytery constituting the church was Philip Belcher, J.J. Battle, and James Lunsford.  The church attached herself to the Articles of Faith of the Bethel Association.  The first pastor called to serve the church was J.J. Battle.  The first clerk was Absolom Funderburk.  The deeds made to the church are still intact and are made from Guy Thompson and Samuel Caskey to C.L. Battle and G.B. Clark.  Some of the charter members were Phillip Belcher, J.J. Battle, James Lunsford, Mr. and Mrs. James Jackson, Mrs. Catherine Harper, Eli F. Walker, and Caleb Owens.  In the early days, slaves were allowed to worship in this church, and the names of those recorded are Fannie Cottle, Ann Smith, Isham Justice, Rebecca Cottle, and Pheling Hart.

In 1837, a division occurred in the Baptist churches of the south on the issue of missions and Sunday Schools.  Ebenezer voted to continue her program on Missionary work, and declared that members of the church were in favor of Sunday School.

It is worthy of note that Reverend Issac Hart served the Ebenezer church as pastor from February 27, 1847 until 1887, completing a pastorate of forty years.

In 1938, the Sunday School was swept by revival.  Attendance jumped more than 100%, from 39 to 84 within a few weeks in the spring of 1938.  Mr. J.A. McGill was superintendent.  The Reverend Homer G. Fowler was the Pastor. 

The County School Board donated the Ebenezer School Building to the church.  In 1952, materials from this building were used to add a Sunday School annex to the church building.

Disaster struck the church building on December 5, 1954 at 4:12 p.m. when a tornado leveled the main building.  The new annex withstood the tornado.

Immediate plans were made for rebuilding the church in the same location.  While the new church was being built, religious services were held in the homes of the members. 

The new church building was dedicated at the Homecoming Day Program on Sunday, July 31, 1955.  

Homecoming Day is observed annually on the last Sunday in July. 

One highlight in the church's history was October 1963, when the church was host to the Friendship Baptist Association.  This marked ninety-eight years since the church had hosted the Association.

In 1979, Georgia Kraft deeded two acres of land to the church for additional cemetery and church ground space.  The land is in the process of being prepared for additional cemetery space.

During the Christmas season, a group from the church sings carols at Magnolia Manor and in the community, and also delivers fruit baskets to the older and shut-in people of the community.  A Christmas program is presented at the church.  Afterwards, the gifts are given out from the Christmas tree.  Then the group gathers in the dining room for delicious refreshments and fellowship.  This not only contributes to the social life, but also the spiritual life of each person present.
 

Location today: corner of Stevens Road and Ebenezer Road An active congregation. Photo by Debbie Moore.

Memories

Comments from Clarence D. White on his memories of Ebenezer Baptist Church and the surrounding area when he was a boy.

I grew up on a farm less than a mile from Ebenezer in the '50s and '60s. Our landlord was Miss Mary Battle, a spinster who was Judge of the Ordinary/Probate Court of Schley County. These Battles owned over three thousand acres around Ebenezer. The mother, I believe, was named Josephine. We called her Miss Jo. She and Miss Mary lived in Ellaville and were members of Ellaville Baptist. Miss Jo had several children including a son who lived in So GA or Florida who would bring his buddies in fall and winter to the land for quail hunting. We often attended the black Ebenezer Baptist where there were a few members with the Battle name. C.T. Battle, who was schools supt. for Schley at the time, was Miss Mary's cousin. My mother and I always suspected that there was a connection between the Tazewell Battles and the Ebenezer/Ellaville Battles.

As a boy I saw the tornado that destroyed the white Ebenezer Baptist in late 1954 or early 1955. We were standing mesmerized in a window and saw the tornado coming, with the church frame, cows, etc. swirling in it, headed straight for our house. It came within less than a quarter mile from us when it mercifully veered off across a field, where it dropped piles of church pieces and other debris. The twister skipped around Ellaville, killing 5, I think it was.

Would be interested to know the names of any black members of Ebenezer that might come from the church minutes.

Clarence D. White