A Brief History of the Georgia State Association
The origins of Free Will Baptists in Georgia lie within an early nineteenth-century movement known as United Baptists. This group arose as a result of the preaching of Cyrus White, and others, that put them at odds with the majority in the Georgia Baptist Convention. In 1829, White published the booklet, A Scriptural View of the Atonement, in which he argued for universal atonement. He and those associated with him also defended human responsibility and opposed unconditional election. When the Baptist establishment demonstrated intolerance of their “free will” views, they founded their own association of churches in 1831 and took the name United Baptists.
In choosing this name they deliberately identified themselves with the merger of Regular and Separate Baptists in Virginia, in 1787, where the name “United Baptist” had been adopted. That merger had represented a wider tolerance for those at various points along the scale between Calvinism and Arminianism, and these folks in Georgia evidently felt the spirit of United Baptists upheld their liberty to teach Christ died for all, the gospel is available to all, and no persons have been eliminated from the possibility of salvation by virtue of an unconditional decree of God. And so, the United Baptist Association, with churches at first in the central western part of the state (in Jasper, Henry, and nearby counties) grew and thrived until well into the 1850s. (Our latest minutes of this body are for 1854; at some point after that the association was replaced by other associations.)
The Chattahoochee United Baptist Association in Georgia
In the years following the organization of the United Baptist Association, other churches were organized and the movement spread. Just four years later, in 1835, the Chattahoochee Association of United Baptists was formed, amiably, out of the United, with churches in the southwestern part of the state, many near the Chattahoochee River that divided Georgia and Alabama. By the early 1840s, the United had a dozen churches and the Chattahoochee two dozen. The latter included churches in southeastern Alabama and soon spread into West Florida.
We have incomplete minutes of the Chattahoochee United Baptist Association from 1842 to 1854. Our next minutes are for 1876, by which time the association’s name was Chattahoochee United Free Will Baptist Association. They had been popularly known as “Free Will” Baptists long before that, and now the name was official. The word “United” would not disappear from the name until well after the turn of the century.
Other Free Will Baptist Associations in the Area
Most of the rest of the Free Will Baptist associations in Georgia, Southeast Alabama, and West Florida were originally United Free Will Baptists, with the Chattahoochee as their spiritual mother. The following list gives their approximate dates of organization in chronological order.
The Ogeechee/South Georgia UFWB Association (1876/77). Name changed from Ogeechee to South Georgia in 1903. (Not the same as the current Ogeechee Association, formed in about 1909.)
The Southeastern UFWB Association (Alabama, 1879/80).
The Martin UFWB Association (1886/87).
The State Line UFWB Association (Alabama/Florida, 1886).
The West Florida Liberty UFWB Association (1889).
The Liberty UFWB Association (1893).
The Georgia Union UFWB Association (1894/95).
The Salem UFWB Association (Florida, 1897).
The Midway UFWB Association (1898/99).
The Little River UFWB Association (1906/1907).
The Union UFWB Association (1926), merging the Liberty and Ochlocknee associations.
Early State Associations
The first effort toward a statewide organization of Free Will Baptists in Georgia resulted in the formation of the Georgia State Convention of Liberal Baptists, apparently formed in 1890 or 1891. At the time, “Liberal Baptists” meant any Baptists, regardless of name, who held to free will views. Member bodies included the Chattahoochee, Middle Georgia, Martin, Liberty, Ogeechee, and Georgia Union United FWB associations. There are references to this organization in the Chattahoochee minutes as early as 1891 and as late as 1907. We have the 1897 minutes of this organization, identified as its seventh annual meeting. Obviously, this organization did not continue.
By 1915, some began to promote the idea of a state convention among Free Will Baptist churches. In December 1917, the first meeting was held for the purpose of “analyzing and qualifying the supporting reasons for a State Convention of Free Will Baptist Churches.” A temporary organization was set up, with Rev. Neal H. Parrish as moderator; T.J. Fort, secretary; T. G. Harvey, treasurer; and Rev. H.L. Lumpkin, corresponding secretary. In 1918 the membership consisted of the Chattahoochee, Georgia Union, Little River, Midway, Ogeechee, and South Georgia Associations. The Martin Association was added in 1919. In 1921, Liberty Association joined, bringing the total number of affiliated associations to eight. The Georgia State Convention continued its existence until 1932, at which time, because of decreasing attendance and lack of interest, the delegates voted to disband.
A Permanent State Association
Soon after the National Association of Free Will Baptists was organized in 1935, the sense of need for a Georgia State Association revived. Among those who talked up the idea (according to S.T. Shutes) were ministers S.T. and K.V. Shutes, T.B. Mellette, L.C. Johnson, E.B. Joyner, H.A. Drake, W.F. Clark, and H.L. Lumpkin; and laymen S.A. Brewton, J.N. Johnson, H.N. Baxter, and A.D. Ivey. A group met at Alabaha Church in Blackshear on Tuesday, August 31, 1937, including representatives from South Georgia, Midway, Ogeechee, Union and Chattahoochee associations. Elder T. B. Mellette preached the opening sermon from the subject, “Our Greatest Need,” using 2 Corinthians 13:5. Officers elected were K.V. Shutes, moderator; W.F. Clark, assistant; T.B. Mellette, secretary; E.B. Joyner, treasurer; and H.A. Drake, field secretary. Among other things, the newly organized association voted to endorse Zion Bible School in Blakely as its official minister’s training center. In order to allow more time for other churches and associations to enroll in the State Association as charter members, a recessed session was planned for November 2 and 3, 1938, at Ebenezer Church in Glennville.
The Georgia State Association of Free Will Baptists has continued from then until the present.