The following churches were listed as members of the association with
the date of constitution of the church as given:
-
| Church |
Date |
Place |
| Bethel |
|
Holt |
| Beulah |
|
Pensacola |
| Canoe |
1877 |
Holt-Milligan |
| Crestview |
|
|
| Damascus |
|
Crestview |
| Dogwood Grove |
1888 |
Holt-Milton |
| East Bay |
1891 |
Holley |
| Ebenezer |
|
Bethel |
| Magnolia |
1891 |
Crestview-Bethel |
| Milton |
1847 |
Milton |
| Milligan |
1854 |
Milligan |
| Mount Pleasant |
1892 |
Lillian |
| New Hope |
1890 |
Holt |
| Oak Grove |
|
|
| Pensacola -- First |
1851 |
Pensacola |
| Philadelphia |
1889 |
|
| Pilgrim's Rest |
|
|
| Pleasant Grove |
1869 |
|
| Providence |
1895 |
Milton |
| Shady Grove |
1888 |
Cora |
| Spring Hill |
|
Milton |
| Union Hill |
1875 |
Pensacola |
| Whitmire's |
|
|
| Yellow River |
1842 |
Oak Grove |
(The following was contributed by a member of the First Baptist Church.)
Very little is known of the early history of the church now known as
the First Baptist Church of Milton, Florida because the first record
was lost. "However, in 1847, shortly after Rev. Travis organized a Baptist
Church in Pensacola, he, with true missionary zeal, began to survey
the surrounding territory and was led to come to Milton, where he organized
this church.
The record begins with March 18 ' 1897. The pastor was the Rev. 1.
L. Taylor who served the Crestview church, too.
The Pensacola church which was organized by Rev. Travis is now The
First Baptist Church of Pensacola, and its present pastor is Rev. James
L. Pleitz.
The church adopted Articles of Faith, Church Covenant, and Rules of
Order on March 2, 1898. It had difficulty (largely financial) surviving
during the early days.
This church was a member of Pensacola Bay Association until the latter
part of 1912, and a member of the Smyrna Association until 1915 when
the new Santa Rosa Baptist Association was formed. The church is still
a member of this association.
The oldest church letter on record was for the year 1899 to the Pensacola
Bay Association, and it showed 14 males and 40 females on the roll and
a Sunday School with 6 officers and teachers and 68 pupils. Dr. C. 0.
Chum was the Sunday School Superintendent.
It was a custom during those days to call a pastor for twelve months
' and also to prefer charges of unchristian conduct against offending
members. They were visited by a committee from the church and if they
would not mend their erring ways, the church would withdraw fellowship
from them. After one's name was withdrawn from the church roll, it took
much proof of repentance before the party was reinstated, so much that
it became a chronic condition. In 1898 one member was taken off the
church roll for signing a whiskey petition.
The church in conference on March 14, 1909, passed the following resolution:
"Resolved that we, the Missionary Baptist Church of Milton do hold that
any member of this church who uses his or her influence by signing or
in any other way encouraging the restoration of the whiskey traffic
in Santa Rosa County is guilty of unchristian conduct and shall be dealt
with by the church as such.,'
The first church building was where the Episcopal Parish House is now
located and it was later moved to the present site but was nearer the
corner of the lot. It was used until it was sold in 1912. The Masonic
Hall was then rented until the present building was completed in 1914.
This building was later turned from facing Canal Street to its present
location in 1938. Later the building was raised and a basement added
to take care of the growing Sunday School.*
The first mission of the church was started in Bagdad, and it organized
as a church on February 10, 1918, and shared the First Baptist Church
pastor on a half-time basis until 1929, when both churches received
full-time pastors.
As far back as 1897, the church ordered the pastor to preach on missions
once each quarter, and also to take up a collection for missions once
each month. The pastor's salary then was $250.00 per year for half time,
and they had to appoint a committee to solicit funds to pay the pastor's
salary quite often, because the church was behind financially.
In 1899 the church decided on the envelope plan to raise the pastor's
salary. Apparently it was not a success because it was supplemented
with moonlight excursions and ice cream suppers.
follows: $50.00 on current expenses; $137.00 to pastor; $2.16 to state
missions; $28.01 to association missions; $5.00 to foreign missions;
$1.00 to aged ministers; $106.10 to ministerial education; $2.50 for
minutes of the association; and $12.30 for associational purposes. The
Ladies' Aid Society contributed $112.10.
The pledges of the church to the association at this time were to be
one collection for each of the mission projects mentioned in the above
paragraph. The messengers to the association that year were: -L. M.
Rhoda, Miss Daisy Chum, C. 0. Chum, Mrs. M. E. Chum, W. A. Mills, Mrs.
S. C. Guinn, G. W. Curtis, Mrs. Peppy, and Miss Millie Anglin.
This method of distribution was soon abandoned for the cooperative
program, a method by which a set amount is sent by each church and distributed
by the state for the different causes.
The church nearly passed out of existence from 1900 to 1903 when it
was revived by Rev. J. W. Senterfit on a half-time basis at $20.00 per
month. He did such a good job that it went on full time November 20,
1904, when Rev. A. J. Abbott was called at $35.00 a month. It was more
than they could pay so they got the State Board of Missions to lend
them $200.00 to pay the pastor, and they decreased their pastoral services
to a half-time basis the next year at $25.00 per month.
During this decade there was much discussion about delinquent members,
and committees were appointed to call on them and try to get them to
come back, or find the reason they would not return and support the
ministry of the gospel.
There is no record of the cost of the new church that was built in
1914, but an associational letter of 1919 valued the church property
at $3,500 and noted a membership of 155; Sunday School membership was
152; and the pastor's salary was $642.50. The total expenditures were
$1,397.78. This showed a considerable growth in every department in
the twenty years from 1899 to 1919.
In 1938 the church building was remodeled and turned to face the highway,
which increased the value of the property. When the basement was added
in 1938, a cornerstone was laid with the following articles sealed inside:
an open Bible, the history of the church, a copy of the church roll,
the Masonic emblem, a Masonic apron, and a sprig of evergreen.
In 1942 $11,000.00 was spent remodeling and redecorating the building.
The next year new pews, carpeting, and pulpit furniture were installed
at a cost of about $1,500.00. In 1947, redecorating the church and the
pastorium brought the value of the church property to $40,000.00.
On May 25, 1947, this church observed a day-long celebration known
as the Centennial. It was a fine day together and much was learned about
the church from the older members.
In 1947 Rev. J. M. Bamberg, from Brent, Alabama, was called to serve
as the pastor. He had just been given his discharge from the Army chaplaincy.
He accepted his duties here in September of 1947, and the church has
made outstanding progress under his leadership.
The church decided in 1949 to build a mission church on Ferris Hill
with Rev. Bamberg preaching there during the First Baptist Church Sunday
School hour. He then preached in his own church at the 11:00 a.m. service.
The mission was very successful.
Later the church planned another mission church on the east side of
town. East Side Baptist Church was made into a mission because it was
not strong enough as a church to support itself. This plan worked very
well because a pastor who served Ferris Hill could alternate between
the two missions. Both churches made considerable progress with Rev.
Elmer Nielsen as pastor. Both missions have now become organized churches
with full-time ministers serving each church.
In 1953 the First Baptist Church built a beautiful new sanctuary beside
their old sanctuary.* This is one indication of the success and progress
of this church as it continues to serve its members and its community.
* (The old church building was torn down in 1971, following the construction
of a large church school facility at the rear of the new sanctuary.)
