Liberty Baptist Church

Liberty Baptist Church

Church; Religion

On May 22, 1852, the Liberty Baptist Church congregation organized the oldest existing Baptist congregation in Lauderdale County. In fact, it was the only Baptist church erected in the county until the First Baptist Church of Florence was built over thirty years later in 1888. According to church records, during its first few years the church’s membership was approximately fifty people. These members constructed a white wooden sanctuary in which the congregation held service until the 1890s. The original wooden building had two doors—one for the men and one for the women. Also, the seating in the sanctuary was segregated by sexes.
In the same year as its charter (1852), the congregation became a part of the Indian Creek Association and started Baptist missions in the surrounding area. During the beginning of the Civil War the church had a total of one hundred and twenty-eight members. However, due to the war, services were discontinued from 1863 to 1865. Shortly following the war, the first Sunday School was organized in 1877. The present day church building was constructed in 1892 when the congregation built a brick structure to take the place of the original wooden building.

Jesse Brock, University of North Alabama

Text:
Lorene Frederick, “Church History Actually History of Community: Liberty Baptist Pastor Compiles Interesting Record of Both Church and The District,” Florence Times, April 22, 1960, located in in folder “McDonald Collection: Church Information Collection-Vol. 7: Other Denominations-Baptist, Churches 7.1” Bill McDonald Collection, Archives/Special Collections, Collier Library, University of North Alabama, Florence, Alabama

Alabama Cultural Resource Survey

1850-1900

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