The History of Forest Baptist Church

A petition was approved on March 14, 1835 for the organization of a regular orthodox Baptist church at the Eddins Schoolhouse in Benevola, Ala. The church was constituted with 22 members by J.P. Taylor, William R. Stancil and Richard Wilkins. Taylor was the church's first pastor, and Mr. Stancil its first clerk. The church adopted 12 Articles of Faith, a set of rules or decorum, and gave itself the name Forest Church.

For several years, the church conferences were held once a month of Saturdays. A clerk was appointed named R. E. Johnson, and two deacons--Watson shoemaker and John Carver--were elected and ordained in June 1835. The ordinance of footwashing was adopted in September 1835.

In January 1836, a new pastor John H. Taylor replaced J.P. Taylor and served five years. In June 1836, a committee was appointed to purchase two acres of property from Gabriel Eddins and Arch Taylor to locate a meeting house for the church for a mere $26.50. Almost everyone contributed to the fund, and the largest donation of $5 came from James H. Ferguson. A treasurer John Carver was appointed.

The records from 1837 reveal how the early Baptists operated in the South. IN February of that year, an accusation was brought against a member for drinking spirits. A committee of one or two people was appointed to go to the wayward person, cite them for what had been done and ask him to come before the church body at the next
conference. The individual had to give satisfaction to the church for his actions to be restored to full fellowship. If not, he could be excluded or given a letter of dismission.

These type of cases were common among the early years of our church. Different people were cited for not attending church, immoral conduct, stating falsehoods, living in disorder, using profane language, using cruel treatment of a slave, or communing with the Presbyterians or Methodists. One of the most unusual charged against a member was the case of a man who was cited for "playing the fiddle for others to dance." And women were not exempt either. Two women in 1842 were once cited for "frolicking and dancing." It turned out that one was restored to the church, but the other was excluded.

In 1837, Forest Baptist Church suffered what must have been one of the worst setbacks it ever experienced. In September of that year, after the annual association meeting, a motion was made to withdraw all support from missionary and benevolent institutions of the association. The motion failed to pass by a vote of 12 to 14. Those 12 walked out; they called for letters of dismission, but there were not granted. The church wrestled with the crisis for over a year. The records who that the church finally granted letters of dismissal to
some, excluded the rest, excluded four more who joined the 12 and accepted a few back who changed their minds.

The church survived. A new deacon James H. Ferguson was elected in May 1838. The church voted in December of that year to hold communion quarterly, a practice we still observe. In 1839, a committee was appointed to collect subscription papers to build a meting house. A book published in 1840 called "History of the Rise and Progress of Baptists in Alabama" gave the number of members of Forest Church as 63. The books said the church had prospered considerably since the missions controversy.

There is a gap in the records prior to 1841, and it wasn't uncommon for the church to skip its conference meetings two or three months in a row. In March 1841, M. P. Smith was chosen the new pastor, succeeding John Taylor. Smith preached for 19 years, and the church seemed to experience a golden age.

Forest Church sent reports and representatives to the district meetings of the association in August. The records of August 24, 1845 show that the church collected $1.50 for Association funds and 50 cents for a copy of the minutes. Today, our church makes a quarterly donation of $200 to the Pickens Baptist Association and pays $7 for a
set of minutes.

In 1853, 13 persons were saved in revival, one of the largest one-time increases in membership at the church. This was nearly matched in 1856 when N.A. Crawford had 11 of his slaves join the church at one time. Slaves had been attending Forest Church since it was founded. They had to answer to accusations just like their masters, and the record books show that they were occasionally cited for using bad language or theft.

In 1860 Forest Church had a protracted meeting for eight days in September. The clerk wrote that the church was "graciously revived and dismissed in powerful harmony." He also reported that $8.75 was raised for domestic missions. At the end of 1860, the church wanted M. P. Smith back for anther term, but after 19 years, he declined. By January 1861, the church had its fourth pastor J. C. Foster, who served for one year.

In January 1862, the church chose a new pastor named William Ashcraft who served at least three years. Even Benevola was touched by the Civil War, and in September 1864, when the church opened its doors for membership a woman named Teer presented a letter from her son A. J. Teer who was in the Confederate Army. the letter asked for fellowship in the church when he came home. Happily, the records show A. J. Teer came forward and was accepted by the church in December 1864.

The last entries in the old record book came in the summer of 1865. Mention is made of the death of a long-time clerk named John Upchurch and the election of a sixth pastor L.S. Foster. Any details after the Civil War regarding Forest Church are based on memories passed down to us.

The old church building was torn down in 1962 and a new one, the existing structure, was built in 1963. A steeple was added to the church building in 1995. The church added a sound system in 2013, and followed that up with more other technological improvements such as television screens and a system to help the hearing impaired. The church went from only meeting twice a month to every week in 2012 when Terry Billings became pastor.

The church was able to acquire a trailer from the Pickens Baptist Association that had previously housed the Hispanic population in Pickens County; it was moved to an area behind the church and served as a type of fellowship hall. When the Covid pandemic hit, the church began broadcasting its service on Facebook and continued the practice after regular services were reinstated.

The church underwent three major building projects in 2021--renovating and expanding its bathrooms and making them handicap-accessible; providing a raised sound system area in the rear of the sanctuary; and adding a carport and covered walkway to the left side on the left side of the building.

A list of pastors of the recent past includes, in order, J.M. Mills, H. Clyde Hollis, Donald Strickland, James Bouchillon, Billy Joe Thompson, J. W. Caldwell, Ernest Chappell, Robert Covington, Larry Potts, B. W. Allen, Horace G. Williams, Dr. J. Vernon Blackburn (March 1982 - Summer 2012); Terry Billings (2012 - 2019) and our current pastor, Jerry Robbins (November 2019 - present).