Celebrating 175 Years
The following speech was given during our Spring Session at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Vernon, FL.
On March 3rd, 1845, the Great State of Florida was established. And two years later, in the year 1847, representatives from churches in Calhoun County, Holmes, Jackson, Gadsden, Franklin, Geneva, and Washington County, met for the first time to form the West Florida Baptist Association. At that time there were about 700 Baptists living in the geographic area which lay between the Chattahoochee River and Escambia Bay. Homes were widely scattered on the banks of creeks and rivers, on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, and in the pine barrens. From the early 1820s to 1847, several churches had been started in this 10,000 square mile area, such as: Apalachicola, Bethel, Enconfina, Harmony, Holmes Creek, Holmes Valley, Liberty Hill, Mount Pleasant, Rehobeth, Sardis, and Union Academy. Twelve of the 14 churches at this meeting were planted in the span of five years. The first meeting was held at Bethlehem Baptist Church, the first church planted in Florida in the year of 1825. This church is now called First Baptist Church Campbellton, FL and is still operating to this day.
The first known moderator of the West Florida Association was Elder Davis Porter Everett. We have much gratitude to offer this man of God. He went into the byways and hedges preaching the word of God and building the Kingdom of God. All that he had was freely given, no sacrifice was too great. Originally from North Carolina, he had come to Florida in search for health. He suffered some severe lung issues, and he settled in Hickory Hill (later called Orange Hill) in Washington County.
From the very beginning, the Association was defined by their zeal for evangelism and missions. Elder J.H. Wombwell was secured as Associational Missionary. In 1849, he preached 106 times, traveled 1,666 miles, and received a salary of $117.99 for the year. Another early figure that contributed to our Association was Elder Joshua Mercer. He moved to Orange Hill in the 1840s and was characterized by an eloquence and zeal that left a lasting imprint in our area. It was said of him that “For 25 years, he faithfully proclaimed the truths of the Gospel and according to the testimony of his works as well as of his brethren, he has used faithfully the sword of the spirit in fighting the battles of his Master.” As Evangelism continued its prevalence, the kingdom of God was preached in all places, and the Spirit of the Almighty God was at work, churches were being planted and people were coming to faith in Christ in droves. West Florida was seeing a Revival, much of which was felt in the rippling effects from the Second Great Awakening.
I cannot stress the importance of women in the early churches of West Florida. In 1850, Campbellton Church started a Female Missionary Society. Some ladies in the church had gotten together, and had a burning desire to support mission work. They sent a letter to the West Florida Association, with $24.20, requesting that these funds be used for missionary purposes. This amount would have been about $865 in monies today. Those funds were used to support an association appointed itinerant missionary to minister to the western part of the Panhandle. The women in this society “talked of their kingdom responsibilities and their desire to do something to spread the good news of salvation.” One lady in this society who didn’t have much, knitted a pair of socks and sold it for $1.25. She donated the money to the missions fund at West Florida. And think about the effect that this money had on the kingdom of God, while the funds were used to support a missionary to preach the gospel all across the panhandle!
The fires of evangelism burned brightly for the next two decades. In the minutes from 1865, we celebrated 157 baptisms from our churches in one year. The minutes of 1868 reported a total of 27 churches. Because of its proximity and relation, the West Florida Association was part of the Alabama State Convention originally. But after the Florida Baptist State Convention was established around the early 1870s, West Florida joined with their Florida brethren. Our Association has not always been perfect, and it has seen division a time or two. But we have always remained faithful to the cause of Christ’s kingdom being preached and disciples being made.
As county lines began to be formed, Associations began to separate from West Florida Association. In 1905, 12 churches in its body withdrew to create the Southwest Florida Association. Churches in Holmes County withdrew to organize Bethel Baptist Association (now Holmes County). We hated to lose these churches but rejoiced to see a new work accomplished. In 1922, we still partnered with churches in Jackson County. At the 75th session, 49 churches represented the annual session. Many felt that West Florida had become too large, and should be broken up again. A committee in 1924 studied this question and by 1933, 28 churches were left in the original body. Note that these were “Union Services” which during that time included some churches even outside of our denomination.
The 100th Annual Session was held in 1946 at Ebenezer Church. Reverend Baldwin of Chipley Baptist was moderator, and Rev. Baker was clerk. 24 churches sent messengers. 127 baptisms were reported and total membership numbered 1,846. West Florida was the mother of the Baptist Work in this section of Florida. By the end of 1950, the great old West Florida Association had but 19 churches and 2,171 members. Its 10,000 square miles had shrunk to a little more than Washington County. But even so, 77 baptisms were reported and 1410 were enrolled in Sunday School. $7,048 was given for missions that year.
Along with leading and conveying a sense of urgency to evangelism and missions, the association has always existed as a partnership of churches, and has always existed for those churches. While Campbellton Church couldn’t pay to support an associational missionary, a group of churches could. While some churches couldn’t offer ministries on their own, collectively they could accomplish much. This is seen, even when we look back at the last twenty years. In August 2001, the Executive Committee presented a request for the Association to begin a Pregnancy and Family Ministry, and in 2002 it was formed with Mrs. Mary Ann Rockburn as the Director (now led by Mrs. Deann Pletcher). Her Husband, Barry was nominated to serve in a new benevolence ministry called, “Love in Action.” In 2003, Gary Wiggins announced that the Association had been given what was formerly known as the Chipley Motel Apartments, and it was named the Armstrong House, now led by Bill and Jacquie Witt. In 2005, we worked to organize the Disaster Relief Unit, now led by Joe Patterson. And for the past 20 years, these ministries have served many and provided multiple avenues for people to come to faith in Christ. We are still serving right alongside our churches today, encouraging missions and evangelism in all our avenues.
With four operating ministries and a Director of Missions, now called an Associational Mission Strategist, and a faithful secretary of over 25 years, our Association is excited to continue serving in whatever way God would use us.
All I would tell you today, is that brothers and sisters, we have much work to do.
In an interview with the Florida Baptist Historical Society in 2007, Alcus Brock said this: “Ever since the founding of our association, our purpose has remained the same: to spread the Kingdom of our Lord and to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ…our association helps churches be involved in mission work. Riding through Washington County, you can’t help but see that the numbers of residents are bound to increase. I think the population will double in 10 years. I sure hope our churches are ready.” Alcus Brock said this in 2007, when the population number was 17,500. Now, in Washington County, we have a total population of 26,833. While it has not yet doubled, it has seen a significant increase.
Where is this influx of people going to church? Reading a demographic report from 2022, that pulls information from multiple surveys, census data, along with multiple reports, here’s what you will find. If you plug in Washington County as a study area, you’ll find that out of population of 26,833 people, only 25% of people claim to be members of a church. Out of those 25%, only 66% attend church on a weekly basis. In Washington County during a religious survey that was taken, a question was asked as if the person had a relationship with the one Living God. 21% strongly disagreed. 5.9% somewhat disagreed. 25% have no opinion. 19% somewhat agreed. And 28% strongly agreed. And I have a whole sheet of demographics that tell us many people’s beliefs about God in Washington Co. Some believe everyone and everything is a god. Some believe that god is the full realization of human potential. Some say there are many gods. Some say that are unsure whether or not god exists. And some say that god is in nature and the spirits within creation.
I could go on folks. But my main point is this: we still have a mission field right here in Washington County. And we must realize this sense of holy discontent when we decide that enough is enough. It’s time to recapture what our Association was all about. Churches fulfilling the Great Commission through every ministry and every mission. If our vision statement is that we are going to make the name of Jesus known in our community and beyond, I have to ask, who’s with me? Because it is our role to make disciples of all nations as a followers of Christ and I want to be about the work of the kingdom of God in our area. I’ve had a good few months now of studying, getting to know our pastors and visiting some churches, working alongside our ministries, and if you follow anything going on with the Association you know there has been a lot of activity going on.
But I want to press into this vision statement and the mission statement that we are working towards, to be about fulfilling the charge from our Lord and Savior by glorifying God through every ministry and every mission. That’s why we are working right now to restart our Church Development Team and our Evangelism and Outreach team. As we think about these efforts, the reason we want our churches to have a passion and a zeal for the Great Commission is because Jesus does! But seeing people come to faith in Christ, the advancement of the gospel, is the very mission of the church. And so we have to be about that work, and if we aren’t, we need to come up with ways to get there.
I pray that this year, we would see vibrant spiritual life in all of our churches. And I’ll close by saying this: that the way in which we will see that growth, is not by strategy, not by finances, not by meetings, though all of those things have their purpose. There was a prophet of God, who was told by God that his people were going to finish building the temple by the hand of Zerubbabel. God said, “His hands shall complete it.” In Zechariah 4, God gave him a vision of how that would take place. How will we fulfill the mission that God has for us? How will we grow, how will see people come to Jesus? How will we see change and growth in our churches and in our association? Zechariah 4:6, “The he said to me, ‘this is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.’”
We will be about the work of the kingdom of God, and we will see the effects. Not by our might, not by our power, but by the Spirit of the Almighty God. We have 16 churches. We are small. But with the Spirit, we are mighty. Thank you Lord Jesus, that your Strength is made perfect in our weaknesses. So we boast in our weaknesses. We are content in weakness, insult, hardship, persecution, and calamity. For when we are weak, then are we strong. So give us strength Lord, to do what you have called us to do. In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.
