Our history...

Our history is long, intense and full of the power and majesty of God.  It is one of victory through fire and persecution.  The summary below of the church history is a re-write of a short history by Virginia Wright Durrett (April 14, 1992).  More in depth history is available thru PDF links below.

 

In 2020, it was the year of the celebration of 250 years in service to the Lord at Bethany Baptist Church formerly known as Guiney's Bridge.  It is a celebration of the history of a people steadfast in faithfulness to God.  Hundreds have passed through the portals of Bethany.  Among the current membership are descendants of the first. 

 

The church was constituted in 1770 under the care of Elder Nathaniel Holloway.  He was followed by the celebrated Elder John Waller, then by Absalom Waller, the nephew of John.  Since then more than 30 other servants of God have served in leadership roles at Bethany.

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The Bethany congregations have been housed in three buildings.  The first, a small frame building was replaced with a larger and more improved structure.  This was destroyed by fire in September 1842.  The third structure, built of brick, was erected 1843 and is the nucleus of the twice expanded church building currently accommodating the worship and educational services.  Exercising foresight, the church purchased adjacent parcels of land for church activities, for cemetery expansion and for parking.  This is testimony to the dedication, love and determination of the membership, both past and present.  

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To further study our church's story, its people and its faith, two additional copies of our history, one written by D. Blanton Allen (August 24, 1930 for the 160th Anniversary) and another by Andrew W. Bullock, Minister (for the 197th Anniversary) are available as PDFs.  There is a link to a page with a PDF reading app, and links are provided to download PDF documents.