[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 158 (Tuesday, September 25, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1301]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     CELEBRATING THE 180TH BIRTHDAY OF THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF 
                          GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA

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                           HON. DOUG COLLINS

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 25, 2018

  Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 
180th birthday of the First Baptist Church of Gainesville, Georgia.
  While it is difficult to find written histories, biographies, 
memoirs, and other accounts of religious life in the South prior to 
abolition, Rev. Clarence M. Wagner has identified historical evidence 
that a group made up predominately of freed slaves organized 
Gainesville's First Baptist Church in 1838. Rev. Wagner details his 
findings in the book Profiles of Black Georgia Baptists.
  In 1901, under the Rev. Jack Nichol's leadership, the congregation 
erected a new church building on the corner of Gainesville's Pine and 
High Streets. Rev. Nichol answered the call to ministry around 1877, 
and he is the first person known by name to pastor this body of 
worshipers, shepherding the flock from 1877 to 1903.
  The First Baptist Church was rebuilt in 1923 under the leadership of 
Rev. William Dorsey. Today, the church gathers at 1810 Martin Luther 
King Jr. Blvd, where Rev. Isaac Whitehead Jr. pastors the congregation.
  I join the First Baptist Church in celebrating their 180 years of 
worship in Northeast Georgia and wish the church many happy years of 
ministry ahead.

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