Members of Ringgold First Baptist Church have prayed for God’s help and guidance through a Civil War, two World Wars, countless weddings, births, funerals and innumerable personal traumas and needs.
That’s what happens when you’ve been around for 175 years.
Ringgold First Baptist’s current sanctuary was built in 1957. It sits to the left of where the original brick church was built in the center of town.
A sketch of how the members of Ringgold First Baptist think the original wooden church in the 1840s would have looked. It was located on the west side of Ringgold.
The original brick building was built in the 1860s, just before the start of the Civil War.
The original brick church was remodeled in 1936 with new Sunday School rooms and a stucco finish added to the outside walls.The church will celebrate its anniversary – technically known as a “terquasquicentennial” – on Aug. 23 with a special homecoming. As part of the morning service, a representative from the Georgia Baptist Association will present a plaque commemorating the anniversary.
Current pastor Eric Kennedy credits the church’s staying power as “first and foremost, of course, to God’s grace and goodness to the church.”
“But second, Ringgold (Baptist) has a long history of deep roots in the community. It has a cohesiveness to the community and a sense of commitment to the church body and the community.”