Butler Baptist Church
It is thought that the forerunner of the present congregation may have dated back to the 1830's or 1840's. The Rehoboth Association met at the Mt. Pleasant Church in 1847, according to records, and although there have been no records found to substantiate this, Mt. Pleasant might have been the first name of this church since the name of the town was changed from Mt. Pleasant to Butler in 1848. The earlest recorded history of the church is found in the minutes of 1854, when the church and it's pastor JOHN HOWELL, and W.A. SKELLEY as delegates petitioned for membership in the Columbus Associatioin and were received. On Nov. 26, 1859 the Butler Church joined with 23 other churches and formed the Friendship Association. The church remained in this association until 1917, when because of transportation problems, returned to the Columbus Association. When the Columbus Association split into two groups in 1954, Butler voted to join the Rehoboth Association. The first building of pine logs was located about 150 yards south of the present site. During the 1860's the membership was at 40 to 50. Membership dropped to it's lowest point in 1874 whith 21 persons listed. The Sunday school was re-organized on October 10, 1875, with 51 enrolled and met in the new building which had been completed on propery given by Elam B. Waters. The building was constructed of virgin pine lumber surrounded by a picket fence to keep out the cows and other animals, all painted white, primarily built by Mr. Waters. He gave it as a house of worship to the honor and glory of God and served both as a deacon and Superintendent of the Sunday School for several years. This building stood until the the present building was completed in May, 1955. . JOHN HOWELL is the earliest pastor found in the records of 1854. He was followed by at least four others, S.W. DURHAM, ENOCH H.WILSON, B.L. ROSS and NELSON HORNADY. Prior to the written history of the church, JOHN S. SEARCY was listed as the pastor at the time of the first church minutes, which are dated November 27, 1875. Later men of God to pastor the flock in the order they are found in the minutes include; A.L. MONCRIEF, HENRY MOSELY, AQUILA CHAMLEE, J.W. HOWARD, E.R. PENELTON, L..T. WEAVER, HUGH OLIVER, W.C. UNDERWOOD, REV. BLALOCK, J.W. SMITH, H.O. FOWLER, H.O. HUGHES, H.G. HOBBS, H.M. WOLF, E.H. DUNN, J.E. PATE, R.C. HOWARD, HUGH DOZIER, W.B. HOATS, EUGENE DAILEY, GORDON HUNTER, JAMES M. CARMICHAEL, WALTER R. DOGGRELL, WALTER R. EVANS, WOODROW W. HUDSON JR., LEE ROY HALL , ALTON ELLIS , REV. HUGH DELOACH AND REV. FRED TUMLIN. Three ministers have been ordained by the Butler Baptist Church and they were, ENOCH H. WILSON, ARMAN BAZEMORE, and EDWARD ARNOLD.
Source: History of The Butler Herald, 1977 printed on100th birthday of The Butler Herald.
Thanks to Judy Hice!
