Shoal Creek Baptist Church will celebrate its 175th anniversary
this Sunday with special services and music to be followed by
lunch and an afternoon program at Qualla Community Building.
The church's current building (above) is the fourth used by
the congregation. The first service in this sanctuary was held
Jan. 29, 1956, with some 79 present for Sunday school. Pastor
O.J. Beck led the morning worship.
This "intermediate" Sunday school class met at Shoal Creek
during the 1930s. In the background is the congregation's third
building, which housed the church from February 1918 until January
1956.
Members of 175-year-old Shoal Creek Baptist Church gathered
in the spring of 1954 to break ground for their current sanctuary,
which was completed in 1956. In the background is the congregation's
third church building, where they worshipped from 1918 until
1956.
This 47-year-old photo shows those present on Sunday, Jan.
29, 1956, for the first service in the 175-year-old church's
current sanctuary. Four building have housed the church since
it was founded in 1828.
Jackson County's second-oldest Baptist congregation
will mark its 175th anniversary this Sunday, July 20.
Church members and friends will commemorate the occasion during
morning services, special singing, lunch and an afternoon program
of music, historical reminiscence and recognition of former
pastors and special guests.
The day will begin with Sunday school at 10 a.m. followed by
morning worship at 11 a.m., with the message delivered by a
former pastor, the Rev. Stephen Jamison. The celebration will
continue with lunch prepared by church members at the Qualla
Community Building, to be followed by the afternoon program.
The church currently has a resident membership of approximately
100 and has 35 non-resident members.
Shoal Creek Baptist Church, which traces its roots back to the
July 26, 1828, founding of Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church
at Yellow Hill in what is now Cherokee and what was then part
of Haywood County. (Cullowhee Baptist, founded in 1821, is Jackson
County's oldest Baptist church.)
With 43 original members, the church was constituted by a presbytery
of three men: Humphrey Posey, Stephen White and the Rev. Adam
Corn.
Mt. Zion divided in 1836, splitting into the Oconalufty and
Shoal Creek churches, with Shoal Creek retaining the records.
Shoal Creek's first building, which was located near the home
of Albert Keener at what is now the entrance to Camp Creek Road,
was destroyed by fire on Oct. 19, 1874. Samuel Beck gave the
use of his home for a meeting place until a new church could
be built.
Work to select a site and build another sanctuary began in 1875.
The church was constructed on land donated by Sarah Jane Thomas,
and that building was used until December 1915.
Material from that church was sold to help finance the next
building, and the third church housed the congregation from
February 1918 until Jan. 29, 1956.
Ground was broken in 1954 for a larger block and brick building.
Golman Kinsland was chairman of the building committee. Constructed
for about $25,000, the church contains a full basement with
classrooms, as well as a large sanctuary finished with plaster
and blonde woodwork and accented with memorial stained-glass
windows.
The first service was held Jan. 29, 1956, with 79 present for
Sunday school. The Rev. O.J. Beck, pastor, led the worship hour.
A parsonage was completed in 1965.
Jackson County's second-oldest Baptist congregation includes
one of the county's oldest citizens. Ruth Gibson celebrated
her 100th birthday April 11. She has been a member at Shoal
Creek for almost 75 years.
During Shoal Creek's early years, meetings were held once a
month and usually included both Saturday and Sunday services.
Later, services were held on the second and fourth Sundays.
While pastors received only the money taken after each service,
"poundings" were popular. During a pounding, members
of the congregation would surprise the minister with gifts of
a pound of food, including canned goods, meats, vegetables and
staples like flour, sugar and salt.
Shoal Creek called its first full-time pastor in 1960. At the
same time, church members voted to pay their pastor a set salary.
The earliest deacons at Shoal Creek included Samuel Sherrill,
John Hyde, Stephen Beck, John Nations, Nathan Hyatt, Elija Bown,
Daniel Lester, John B. Gibson, Nimrod Childers, H.L. Moodey,
A.J. Galloway, J.B. Hoyle, C.M. Fisher and W.V. Farley.
Gene Gibson, great-grandson of John B. Gibson, currently serves
as a deacon, and Nimrod Childers's great-granddaughter Jean
Childers is presently a member of the church.
A highlight in the church's history was its sesquicentennial
celebration on July 30, 1979. The daylong event included a morning
message from a former pastor, the Rev. Alvin Loiry, then serving
as the Tuckaseigee Baptist Associational missionary. Loiry's
wife, the former Christine Browning, is a direct descendant
of the Rev. Humphrey Posey, one of the presbytery constituting
the church.
