Liberty Baptist Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Back in April of 1874, eight people gathered together with a single purpose: to organize a Baptist congregation right here in Marion County. Eight.

Not eighty, not eight hundred. Eight charter members, and they meant business. The first pastor was a man named W.

W. Mond, and under his watch those early worshippers did something you don't hear about much anymore. They shared.

The early services were held in a Union Church building, and that building wasn't just for the Baptists. The local Methodist congregation used it too. And if that wasn't enough, it doubled as a school.

One building carrying a whole community on its shoulders. Now, somewhere in the early 1890s, the congregation was going by a different name altogether: Harmony Baptist Church. Whether that name suited them or whether it didn't quite fit, I can't say.

What I can tell you is that by 1898, they brought the original name back. Liberty. Liberty Baptist Church, same as it was at the start.

And right around that same time, something shifted. The Methodist congregation ceased to use the Union Church facility. The Baptists had the place to themselves at last, and over the years that building was enlarged to keep pace with a congregation that just kept on growin'.

Eight people in April of 1874. That's where it began. Some seeds just take.

What the marker says

This church traces its history to April 1874, when eight charter members gathered to organize a Baptist congregation. The first pastor was W. W. Mond. Early worship services were held in a Union Church building which was shared with the local Methodist congregation and was also used as a school. Known as Harmony Baptist Church in the early 1890s, the original name of Liberty was restored in 1898. About that time the Methodist congregation ceased to use the Union Church facility, which has been enlarged over the years to accommodate the growing Baptist congregation.