From 1929, when Eureka College in Ayden, North Carolina closed, until Free Will Baptist Bible College opened its doors in 1942, Free Will Baptists were without an educational institution. Into that void stepped Zion Bible School. Founded in 1935 by Thomas B. (T.B.) Mellette, it was located a few miles southwest of Blakely, Georgia, in the tri-state area.
Mellette grew up in Turbeville, South Carolina, and then attended Duke University. He served on a 1921 joint “Educational Committee” with Free Will Baptist men from the General Conference (East) and the Cooperative General Association (West). Some talked about establishing a school in Nashville, but that was 20 years down the road.
Mellette married and settled in the country outside Blakely. He taught school and served one term as County School Superintendent. He then purchased an old school house for $5 across the road from Zion Free Will Baptist Church. Times were bad in the mid-30s, but $5 was a bargain…even for the Great Depression.
Students began to arrive at Zion Bible School from Florida, Texas, and other states. Though the student body was never large, the students received a surprisingly broad education. Courses were offered in English, world literature, Bible, doctrine, psychology and theology.
Students were not charged for tuition, room, or board. When faculty or students held services in area churches, the typical offering was $2 or less, or a sack of potatoes. But, like the loaves and fishes, it was enough.
No more than five students ever attended Zion Bible School at one time, and in 1942, the school closed in deference to the new Free Will Baptist Bible School which had just opened a two-year program in Nashville, Tennessee, and eventually became Free Will Baptist Bible College, today Welch College.
About the Writer: Steve Hasty (deceased) was a member of the Free Will Baptist Historical Commission
