Corinth Baptist Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll give it to you straight from the record. Somewhere in Cherokee County, a church took root, and the story of how it held on is worth a few miles of your attention. It starts in June of 1881, with a man named Obediah Meador and his family.

They didn't wait for somebody else to organize a congregation. They did it themselves. Twelve members strong, that little church walked into the Cherokee Baptist Association the very next year, in 1882.

Twelve people. You could fit them in a living room, but they meant business. Now, who do you call when a brand-new congregation needs its first pastor?

Well, if your name is Obediah Meador, apparently you call your son. The Reverend John Benjamin Meador stepped up and took that role, the first pastor Corinth Baptist Church ever had. Then came 1894, and two charter members, W.

A. and Sallie Simpson, did something that quiet and that lasting. They deeded the property, gave the land, so the congregation could build its first real sanctuary. That building went up around 1900.

From those twelve souls in 1881, membership grew steadily through the first half of the twentieth century, and the church kept reaching, affiliating over the years with the Baptist Missionary, the American Baptist, and the North American Baptist Associations. That first sanctuary eventually gave way to a new building, constructed in 1950. And here is the part that makes you sit with it a moment.

That 1950 building is still where the congregation worships today. Obediah Meador and his family started something in June of 1881, and it is still going.

What the marker says

Corinth Baptist Church Organized in June 1881 through the efforts of Obediah Meador and his family, this congregation had 12 members when it joined the Cherokee Baptist Association in 1882. Obediah Meador's son, the Rev. John Benjamin Meador, served as first pastor. In 1894, charter members W. A. and Sallie Simpson deeded property on which the congregation built its first sanctuary about 1900. Corinth Baptist Church would later affiliate with the Baptist Missionary, American Baptist and North American Baptist Associations. Membership grew steadily throughout the first half of the 20th century. The congregation continues to worship in the building constructed in 1950 to replace the first sanctuary. (2002)