FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF CHRIST

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF CHRIST

Macon, Georgia

www.fbcmacon.com

(478) 742-6485

History of First Baptist Church of Christ in Macon Georgia

Baptists turned 400-years-old in 2009!  When in 1609 John Smyth, Thomas Helwys, and a handful of other English Separatists bound themselves into a fellowship of free believers, they started a movement that now stretches around the world. The principle of religious liberty has inspired many other Christians, and the laws of our own country as well.

Some 217 years later, another small group established the First Baptist Church of Christ of Macon, when the town was just a new and tiny settlement. In the years since our church has made significant contributions to the world-wide movement of Baptists. In 1902 our church’s gifts made possible the first Southern Baptist hospital in a foreign land, the Warren Memorial Hospital in China. The hospital still operates, though under a different name and auspices. In 1895 our church was privileged to host Lottie Moon, the famous missionary.

Still a mission-minded church, each year we give designated offerings for both foreign and domestic missions. Even more notable is our partnership with Rick’s School in Liberia, headed by Olu Menjay, once a member of our church. To help the school recover from losses in Liberia’s recent civil war we have sent them a van, clothing and other supplies, and this past year sponsored a group of volunteers to lay a new floor in their main building. In addition we offer food and clothing to needy Maconites twice a month. The women of the Global Mission Group now have a program to aid these visitors in managing the practical aspects of their lives, including finances.

In the early 1990s and beyond, our church produced many leaders of the emerging Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF), including Dr. Walter Shurden, national moderator, Bob Setzer, Jr., and Coordinator of CBF of Georgia, Frank Broome. The church’s partnership with CBF continues to be vital and strong.

The principle of religious freedom has been a powerful social and political policy, but Baptists have also affirmed the principle of freedom for individuals to develop their own understanding of the Christian faith. Few churches have done this better than our Macon church. This freedom is a precious gift, one that is not afforded in many Baptist churches today, but one that is essential for keeping a strong and faithful community of believers alive. Thus we have a great deal to celebrate today, both the Baptist movement now world-wide, and the good life and character of the First Baptist Church of Christ of Macon.

[By Rollin Armour, Sr. Professor of Christianity, Emeritus, Mercer University Co-author of History of the First Baptist Church at Macon, 1826-1990 (with H. Louis Batts)]

—

The First Baptist Church of Christ began in 1826, shortly after the founding of a frontier town called Macon, Georgia. From humble beginnings, the church grew rapidly, occupying four different sites in downtown Macon during the congregation’s first six decades. On May 15, 1887, the church family entered its present home, a lovely Gothic sanctuary at the “top of Poplar” street, situated on a hilltop overlooking the city.

While deeply rooted in the Christian faith and its Baptist identity, the First Baptist Church of Christ at Macon has long been progressive in spirit. In the early anti-missions controversy that divided Georgia Baptists, First Baptist withdrew from one local association to found another that was decidedly missionary in spirit. Pastors and lay leaders in the church where also instrumental in the founding of Mercer University and the moving of the Mercer campus to Macon in 1871. First Baptist was a leader in the Sunday School movement in the 19th century, in the use of radio to preach the Gospel in the 20s, in integrating the church in the 60s, ordaining women as deacons in the 80s, and in becoming a leading congregation within the newly founded Cooperative Baptist Fellowship in the 90s. Indeed, First Baptist member Dr. Walter Shurden helped write the manifesto at the Fellowship’s founding and the current pastor, Dr. Robert B. Setzer, Jr., was national moderator of the CBF in 2004-5.

Today, First Baptist is a thriving downtown church with a diverse and multi-generational congregation, a free Baptist spirit, a missions heart, and an obvious love for people that permeates the church’s life.