Pulaski Bleckley Baptist Association

About Us

A Brief History
Pulaski-Bleckley Baptist Association
1906-2007
By: Dr. Kelly Pritchett, Jr

Baptists will mark their 400th anniversary in 2009. Born out of English Separatism, Baptists across the centuries have stood for religious freedom, doctrinal truth, and missionary outreach. The same can be said for the churches of the Pulaski-Bleckley Baptist Association as we celebrate our 100th anniversary this year.
            Fourteen of our present churches predate our founding in 1906. The three oldest are Evergreen, 1809; Hawkinsville First, 1830; and Limestone, 1833. The Evergreen church began as Mt. Horeb. In 1844, during the missions controversy, “the congregation having assembled to worship found themselves nailed and locked out” of their church. The outcast church moved to its present location, changed its name to Evergreen, and has been a missionary church ever since. Rev. C. D. Mallory, pastor at Evergreen and at Hawkinsville Baptist Church, was a delegate (messenger) at the formation of the Southern Baptist Convention at the First Baptist Church in Augusta, Georgia in 1845.
          One very notable event before 1906 happened in 1891 as the Georgia Baptist Convention met for its annual meeting at the Hawkinsville Baptist Church. The meeting lasted three days. Hundreds came to Hawkinsville by train. Hawkinsville was described as a place of “pleasing streets and elegant homes glowing with Southern hospitality.”
           The Pulaski-Bleckley Baptist Association was organized at the Corinth Baptist Church on Wednesday, November 7, 1906. “Upon a call for the letters of churches, and the names of their messengers, the following were enrolled” from these Baptist Associations: Bethany, Corinth, Cochran, Limestone, Lynwood, Mt. Calvary, Mt. Olive, New Midway, and Ruth from the New Ebenezer Association; Evergreen from the Ebenezer Association; Bluespring, and Mt. Pleasant from the Little River Association; and Hawkinsville and Rockdale from the Houston Association. J. J. Whitfield was elected Moderator; T. R. Hendricks, Clerk; W. E. Chancey, Treasurer; and C. L. Greaves, Chairman, Executive Committee. J. J. Whitfield served as Moderator from 1906 to 1936, a period of 31 years. The total membership of the churches reported in 1907 was 1830. Bleckley County was created from Pulaski County in 1912 and in 1919 the name of the Association was changed to Pulaski-Bleckley Baptist Association.
           Churches once in the Association that have since disbanded or moved to other Associations are: Pine Level, Bragg, Lynwood, Rockdale, China Hill, Immanuel, Mt. Olive, Faris, Bethlehem, Mt. Carmel, and Harmony.
            A pivotal and historic event took place in 1925 at the Southern Baptist Convention in Memphis, Tennessee. The Cooperative Program, the unified budget of Southern Baptists, was approved and since that time has been a lifeline of support to the work of our denomination. In that same year, Dr. Louie Newton, “Mr. Baptist,” preached the annual sermon of our Association at the Limestone Baptist Church. The Associational Executive Committee recommended to the churches in 1927 that “we give full and hearty support to the Co-operative Program in all its several functions of manifesting God’s love to men…”
           The past 100 years of Baptist work in the Association reveals a number of interesting facts. In the early years of the Association, messengers to the Georgia Baptist and Southern Baptist Conventions were also elected at the annual meeting of the Association. In the Associational minutes from 1906 to 1938 it clearly states that the Association “shall be composed of white male messengers elected by the churches connected with this body.” Then from 1938 to 1961 the language changed to “white messengers.” From 1962 forward it reads “duly elected messengers.” A lot has happened in church and society since 1906.
           In 1978 the Pulaski-Bleckley Baptist Association entered into a Joint Missions Program with the Dodge Association and shared the same Associational Missionary, Rev. J. R. “Bob” Daniel, who served for the next 13 years in that capacity. He was followed by Rev. Clyde Evans and Rev. Larry Wilbanks, all of whom provided exemplary leadership to the Association and its churches. In 2004 the Pulaski-Bleckley Baptist Association voted to discontinue the Joint Missions Program and seek out its own missionary. In January of 2005, Rev. Sam Waldron became the Interim Associational Missionary and served faithfully until December 2006. In January of 2007, Dr. Dennis Phillips began serving as the Associational Missionary.
           Being aware of ministry needs in the two counties, the Association established the Willing Hands Center in Cochran in 1998, and the Christian H.O.P.E. Center in Hawkinsville in 1999. With a heart for missions, the Association began a partnership agreement with the Timisoara Baptist Association in Romania from 1999 to 2002. A Hispanic ministry under the capable direction of Rev. Luis Caiza began in 2002.
           Only eternity will reveal fully all that has happened in the Association and its churches: the souls saved, the lives changed, and the moral and spiritual impact upon our world. The torch of the gospel has been passed to us by our forefathers. We must hold it high as we march forward into the next hundred years.