Woodlawn Baptist Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, friends, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way back on July 21, 1850, thirteen souls gathered together and organized what they called Bethesda Baptist Church. Most of those charter members had made their way out of Mississippi or Alabama, carrying their faith with them into Harrison County.

That same year, they put up a building, a proper church house, right there in 1850. Now, that building had a journey of its own ahead of it. Come 1877, the whole structure was moved, relocated to a new site donated by a man named Captain Henry L.

Berry. You hear that right. They didn't abandon the building.

They moved it. That's a certain kind of devotion right there. And once it was settled on that new ground, the congregation kept on doing what they'd always done.

For ninety-five years, from those early days all the way until 1945, services were held only on the fourth Sunday of each month. Just once a month, that fourth Sunday, the community would come together. And sometimes, those gatherings turned into something a little grander than a sermon.

Sometimes they furnished an occasion for what the old-timers called dinner on the ground. You can almost smell the cornbread, can't you. Then came 1958, and the congregation decided it was time for something new.

They adopted a new name, Woodlawn Baptist Church, the name it carries to this day. And they completed a modern building on a site given by Mr. and Mrs. George C.

Ives. From thirteen charter members with Mississippi and Alabama dust still on their boots, to a new name and a new building more than a century later. That is one church that knows how to keep the faith and keep on movin'.

What the marker says

Organized as Bethesda Baptist Church on July 21, 1850, with 13 charter members, most of whom had come from Mississippi or Alabama. Bethesda church building, erected in 1850, was moved in 1877 to a site donated by Capt. Henry L. Berry. For 95 years, until 1945, services were held only on the fourth Sunday of each month, sometimes furnishing an occasion for "dinner on the ground." In 1958, the congregation adopted its present name and completed this modern building on a site given by Mr. and Mrs. George C. Ives.