The familiar strains of "Just As I Am" have long since ceased here, but the hymnals and paper fans are still in place in the backs of the pews, waiting. Loved and watched-over by the Mitchell County, Georgia community around it, Mt. Enon Baptist Church stands empty on Sunday mornings and has for many years.
It was founded in 1856 by six charter members - all of them women - who had enlisted the services of Rev. Curtis Nelms (charter member number seven). Before long, the little church was up and running, so much so that it took on double duty as a school in 1863. Named Ravenwood Academy, it offered, among other things, French, Latin and Greek - plus elocution, higher math, rhetoric, and even piano lessons.
After the Civil War, the congregation expanded into the building you see here, which was completed in 1889. The nearby small town of Baconton had used the graveyard as their city cemetery almost from the beginning, and to this day, a good portion of Baconton's early citizens are buried here. Because of that, and even though the congregation voted to disband in the 1960s, the church's historic significance as a school, and the presence of so many townsfolk in the graveyard made it important to save the church.
And so they did. In the process, it was decided that one stipulation would be to leave everything inside just as it was, which is why those hymnals are still in place. The doors may have closed, but hope is always open for business.
Photo by Beth Yarbrough.
I love that they left the hymnals and fans. It gives the church a tangible soul.
A heartfelt story. Thank you.