SEVIERVILLE — Shady Grove Baptist Church celebrates 150 years of worship this weekend, its rich history an integral part of the community where most of its members reside.
“It is just a small country church. That is where I feel most at home, is a small country church,” deacon Roy Parton said.
The church is celebrating its anniversary with special activities on Sunday, May 16.
Pastor David Carver said there are six young pastors who are going to participate in those activities, which start with two of those pastors speaking at adult Sunday school at 9:30 a.m. Morning worship will be at 10:45.
Following worship will be a meal in the fellowship hall, with an afternoon service anticipated to start around 1:30 to 2 p.m. Bro. Jim Thomasson, a former pastor, will speak in the afternoon.
Parton grew up near the church and remembers many of the changes that happened throughout its rich history. As a child he often came to the church for revivals and other activities, although he was a member at another church at that time.
“They used to heat the church with a coal stove. I remember as a boy coming here, the coal pile back out here,” Partons said.
“When I was coming here just as a small boy it didn’t have no electric wiring. They had big old lamps between each window. There were six of them that sat between each window, those kerosene lamps.”
Carver has been pastor for a little over 20 years at the church, which he has been a member of since his childhood.
“I announced my call to preach at this church in 1987, March 1987,” Carver said.
He’s proud of the history that was so carefully preserved by members, including Bro. Jonathan Ogle, a Korean War veteran who was the church clerk for 62 years.
“They have done a good job all these years of not only preserving the building but the history of the church,” Carver said.
Local historian, the late Beulah Linn, detailed much of that history in an article for The Mountain Press.
The church was first organized as the Baptist Church of Christ at Pleasant Hill on March 24, 1871, its membership rolls originally at 12.
By the first Saturday in December 1872, the church clerk recorded its name changed from Pleasant Hill to Shady Grove.
“The Union Sunday School was organized by neighbors in the vicinity of Shady Grove on the third Sunday in April, 1884. Levi Branson was the superintendent and Abijah Blalock was the Secretary. The teachers were F.M. McMahan, J.A. Branson, Abijah Blalock and Mackey Blalock,” Linn’s article recounts.
Linn writes that there is no foundation or other evidence to identify where the original church building was located, but a note in the church records indicate it was about a half mile from the current location.
In July 1881, the church agreed a free school could be taught at the church, and a Mr. Caton was the teacher, Linn wrote.
When the new church was being constructed, the building committee consisted of: G.R. McMahan, J.L. Brown, William Wilson, David Watson, R.C.F. McMahan, James Clark and R.G. Shields.
In December 1896 it was decided to sell the church and lot, retaining the right to worship there until a new church could be built. By Sept. 21, 1897 it was decided the new church would be built at the corner of Bro. D.C. Watson’s field, between the forks of the road and the graveyard.
D.B. Watson and his wife Mary Watson gave the property as a gift, and he built the church for $15, donating the rest of his labor.
The new church was dedicated on Sunday, June 21, 1903. The pastor was the Rev. S.F. Paine.
Ogle wrote that the membership fluctuated over the years.
“There were lean years when the attendance fell to ten or fifteen, but the teens of that time kept the church going,” he wrote.
The church has gone through multiple renovations since the 1960s, including the addition of a new sanctuary in 1995.
“Shady Grove is not the ‘perfect’ church. It is a church made up of imperfect church members who love our perfect Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” Carver said.
“Today we stand on a history of great men of God, godly deacons and trustees, faithful church members who have served their community well. We also are able to recount a history carefully recorded and cherished and coupled with prayer for God to guide our future.”
Today the church has about 70 members. Many of those who attend today are part of families who go back in the church generations.
“There have been a lot of families who grew up in this church. A lot of kids have grown and have children of their own,” Parton said.
“A bunch have grandchildren,” Carver added.
