By Jimmy Espy
Correspondent
Sardis Baptist Church has put down deep roots in Chattooga County. The small, wood-framed church sits on a hillside next to Georgia Highway 114, a dozen miles east of the Alabama line.
Its members say the church is "like family."
Much of the family will gather this week as the church celebrates its 175th anniversary with a weeklong series of events highlighted by a Homecoming gathering on Sunday, Aug. 8. Among the scheduled activities is the unveiling of a marker commemorating the church's placement on the National Register of Historic Places.
Diane Ward, who directs the church's small choir, has attended Sardis for 36 years.
"There is such a love in that church," she said. "There's a real love of community, a love of the church membership. The church is a great support group - just like a good family."
Pastor Dewayne Teague, who was called to the pulpit in 1994, agrees with Ward.
"Sardis is more than a church; it's a family," Teague said. "We may squabble a little, but just like a family we make up and move on."
Teague was attracted to the church, in part, he said, because of its "country-type caring heart."
"It really is a small, country kind of church with a neighborly kind of love."
Sardis Baptist was constituted in 1835. The original place of worship was on nearby Price Bridge Road. In 1859, Sarah Price, an area resident, donated one acre on the Gaylesville-Summerville Road to be used for a church. Construction started soon after. Included in the design was a gallery in the back of the church used by slaves and a partition down the middle of the sanctuary, which allowed men and women to sit on separate sides of the room during services.
Over the years, modifications were made to the building, but by the 1990s the church's structural soundness was in question.
"When I came in 1994, I could stand up and shake and you could feel the church move," said Teague. "We were told that the best thing to do was bulldoze it down and rebuild."
But the members valued the old building and in 1996 looked for another option. They found it in the form of a state program designed to save historic buildings. Representatives of the Georgia Heritage 2000 commission helped the church find technical expertise and funding, which helped pay for extensive repairs to its foundation. The work was done in 1997, costing more than $20,000.
The landmark anniversary has not gone unnoticed. The church will receive a flag flown over the state capitol, courtesy of state Sen. Jeff Mullis. During this year's session of the Georgia Legislature, remarks honoring the church's history were read into the state's official minutes by state Rep. Barbara Reece. Church members purchased their own plaque signifying the church's spot on the National Register and will unveil it sometime this week.
"The members hold the church's history dear, and I am humbled by it," said Teague.
Contact Jimmy Espy at hoodcsa@aol.com.