Ebenezer Baptist Church

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Ebenezer Baptist Church in Walker County. Now settle in, because this one goes back a good long way. The year is 1854, and two men are laying the foundation for something that would outlast just about everything around it.

The Rev. J. W.

D. Creath, pastor of the Huntsville Baptist Church, and the Rev. Richard Pace, a pioneer Baptist leader and preacher, come together to organize a congregation.

Richard Pace would go on to serve as the first minister at this church. They didn't have a building yet. Not even close.

Those early worship services were held in the homes of members, which tells you something about the kind of people these founders were. You don't wait for the walls to go up before you get to work. The first actual church building, when it finally came, was a two-story structure, and it had a neighbor under the same roof: an early Masonic lodge.

That building sat on land conveyed in 1854 by Jonathan A. and Sarah McGary, out near what is now Ebenezer Cemetery, about six miles northeast of where you're standing. It served the congregation all the way until 1880. Then the church moved to the West Sandy community, and at first, the congregation held services in the sanctuary of Farris Chapel Methodist Church.

That's the kind of cooperation between neighbors that doesn't always make the history books, but it should. A separate building was completed in the 1890s, and that one carried the congregation forward until 1916, when Ebenezer Baptist Church relocated to this very site. Along the way, the church has been led by many prominent pastors, and it has played a real role in the ordination of ministers.

Among them, J. S. McGraw, who served as a Civil War chaplain, and J.

R. Walker, a Baptist preacher and missionary who also happened to be the son of early church leader J. N.

Walker. Faith and community, running through the same family lines. From homes and borrowed sanctuaries to a building that still stands, Ebenezer Baptist Church has been an instrumental force in the development of this community, and by the marker's own account, it continues to reflect the ideals of its pioneer founders.

That's not a small thing to say about a congregation that started with two preachers and somebody's front parlor.

What the marker says

This congregation was organized in 1854 by The Rev. J. W. D. Creath, pastor of the Huntsville Baptist Church, and The Rev. Richard Pace, the pioneer Baptist leader and preacher who served as the first minister at this church. Early worship services were conducted in the homes of members. The first church building was a two-story structure shared with an early Masonic lodge. It was located at the site of Ebenezer Cemetery (6 mi. NE) on land conveyed in 1854 by Jonathan A. and Sarah McGary. The building served until 1880, when the church moved to the West Sandy community. Here services were first held in the sanctuary of Farris Chapel Methodist Church. A separate building, completed in the 1890s, was used until 1916, when the congregation relocated at this site. Throughout its history, Ebenezer Baptist Church has been led by many prominent pastors. It has also been active in the ordination of ministers, including J. S. McGraw, a Civil War chaplain, and Baptist preacher and missionary J. R. Walker, the son of early church leader J. N. Walker. An instrumental force in the development of the community, the church continues to reflect the ideals of its pioneer founders.