Church History

THE HISTORY OF BETHEL MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH

    In Southwest Georgia, Collins James embarked upon a path that led him to become a minister who influenced the lives of hundreds, black and white.  An early indication of his religious activities can be found at a Baptist Church a few miles outside the town of Camilla.  In 1866, James, along with Ralph Watson and Godfrey White, organized the Bethel Baptist Church, which is the oldest Black Baptist Church in Mitchell County.

     Blacks’ withdrawal from biracial churches was a prominent movement after the Civil War.  It is very significant that so early in Reconstruction that they were able to secure land and materials necessary to build a church.  Religious history supports the conclusion that the Black Church was born from the spiritual needs of an oppressed people.

     In 1866 Southwest Georgia Blacks needed encouragement and evidence of uplift. The Bethel Baptist Church stood as a testimony to progress and change.  In freedom, the church became the institution that helped blacks’ cope with life’s realities.  The establishment demonstrated the fruit of collective effort and signaled blacks’ ability to triumph in the midst of difficult circumstances. Bethel Baptist Church was started after the civil war and was one of the first places in Mitchell County where blacks could assemble together and worship.

     Currently, the pastor of the church is Pastor Jermaine King. Hand-in-hand, pressing together toward the higher calling of our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ, we remember these great men of God who most eloquently delivered some of the most powerful sermons to ever fall on the ears of this great church.

     In the past years there were many Deacons who sat on the right side of these great preachers witnessing the good and perfect works of the Lord. Presently, the Deacons are Dea. D.K. Grissom, Jr., Dea. Terry Burley, Sr., Dea. Elliott Walker, Sr., Dea. Rickey Burley, Sr.,  Dea. Tommy Williams, Dea. Shaft Martin, and Dea. Dewayne Burley.

     As you have heard, the Bethel Missionary Baptist Church has a rich history and every day we are working to the glorification of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.