Bethel Baptist Church of Columbus, Georgia
Organizational Note
Bethel Baptist church was formed on June 29th, 1829 near the Warm Springs and Psalmond roads near Columbus, Georgia. Services were held once or twice a month using the services of part time pastors. Its original name was the Baptist Church of Jesus Christ, Muscogee county, known by the name Bethel. By 1867 there were 102 white members and 74 black members. About 1870 the pastor, C. C. Willis, gave members who were former slaves a parcel of land on which to build their own church. This church, Locust Hill Missionary Baptist Church, still stands, located about 2 miles east of Bethel on Warm Springs Road. In 1947 Bethel Baptist called its first full-time minister, the Reverend Homer Fowler.
Scope and Content
The collection consists of two boxes of minutes and reports, photographs, programs, correspondence and membership information. 1829-2009 2 boxes (2 l.f.)
Permission to Publish
Permission to publish material from the Bethel Baptist Church Collection must be obtained from the Columbus State University Archives at Columbus State University. Use of the following credit line for publication or exhibit is required: Bethel Baptist Church Collection (MC 275) Columbus State University Archives Columbus, Georgia
Provenance
Unknown
Box and Folder List
Box 1 - Minutes
The minutes might contain reports of various committees, progress reports, correspondence, financial records, baptisms, proposed church calendars, staff directories, changes to the constitution and bylaws, etc. A few include handwritten drafts.
- Folder 1 - Bethel Baptist Church Minutes, 1829-1872
- Folder 2 - Bethel Baptist Church Minutes, 1873-1935
- Folder 3 - Bethel Baptist Church Minutes, 1936-1963
- Folder 4 - Bethel Baptist Church Minutes, 1963-1968
- Folder 5 - Bethel Baptist Church Minutes, October 16, 1968-1971
- Folder 6 - Bethel Baptist Church Minutes, 1972-1974
- Folder 7 - Bethel Baptist Church Minutes, 1975-1977
Box 2
- Folder 1 - Bethel Baptist Church Minutes, 1978-1981
- Folder 2 - Bethel Baptist Church Minutes, 1982-1985
- Folder 3 - Bethel Baptist Church Minutes, 1986-1987
- Folder 4 - Bethel Baptist Church Minutes, 1988-1991
- Folder 5 - Bethel Baptist Church Minutes, 1992
- Folder 6 - Bethel Baptist Church Minutes, 1993
- Folder 7 - Bethel Baptist Church Minutes, 1994
- Folder 8 - Bethel Baptist Church Minutes, 1995
- Folder 9 - Bethel Baptist Church Minutes, 1996
- Folder 10 - Bethel Baptist Church Minutes, 1997-1999
- Folder 11 - Bethel Baptist Church Minutes, 2000-2002
- Folder 12 - Bethel Baptist Church Minutes, 2003-2006
- Folder 13 - Bethel Baptist Church Minutes, 2007-2009
- Folder 14 - Bulletins (scattered), 19980s-1990s, 2005
- Folder 15 - Columbus Sesquicentennial Religious Heritage Worship Service, May 7, 1978
- Folder 16 - Constitution and By-laws (revised), 1994
- Folder 17 - Cookbook-"Bethel's Family Recipes", 2005
- Folder 18 - Correspondence, 1961-1986, 1991 This folder contains information ranging church furniture and stained glass windows to the resignations and selection of pastors.
- Folder 19 - Directories, 1973, 1978, 1989 and nd
- Folder 20 - History of Bethel Church, 1825-1905 This folder also contains a history of the Greater Locust Grove Baptist Church.
- Folder 21 - Incorporation-Annual Registration, 1963
- Folder 22 - Photographs-100th Anniversary, 1929
- Folder 23 - Photographs, 1950s-1970s
- Folder 24 - Photographs-180th Anniversary, 2005
- Folder 25 - Steeple-Fundraising and Photos, 1993
