History of Calvary Baptist

Beginnings

The history of Calvary Baptist Church is deeply rooted in the early settlement of what is now known as Grady County. In the early 1800's, Elder William Hawthorne, a Baptist Preacher, came with a group of people to the Calvary area which they called the"North Carolina Settlement". These pioneers to South Georgia sold their land in North Carolina to buy land here. With their families and belongings they traveled in covered wagons and by horseback down the Hawthorne Trail.

The 'North Carolina settlers" were staunch Baptists with a deep faith. Their journey to South Georgia was to seek a better life for themselves and their families.

The first church in the community was Piedmont Primitive Baptist Church, constituted August 28, 1828. Piedmont is still an active church today.

August 1884 saw a great revival come to Calvary. This revival was organized by Robert Harris, a preacher and a teacher in Calvary. A brush arbor was built under which services were held. 52 people professed their faith in Christ and were baptized in the Herring Mill Pond. 

Mr. J.J.White, a preacher and a teacher in Calvary working as a missionary for the Bowen Association, held a meeting at which the Baptists in Calvary organized their church. On August 24, 1884, the Calvary constituency adopted a Church Covenant, Articles of Faith, and Decorum.