Church History

Friendship Baptist Church does not have records that give the exact date when the church was first organized and began to have services. The first time we find a recorded organizational date of 1876 is in the minutes of the association of 1910.

We do know that in Ramah Baptist Church’s history it is recorded that several prominent families, among these the Styles, Millers, and others, withdrew from Ramah in 1876 to start a church at Friendship. Ramah, established in 1828, was the only Baptist church in the area for many years. This was probably the reason for our families from this community to go to Ramah for services. Also, the old stage coach route, known as the Lawrenceville-Newnan Post Road, came through the Friendship community and on to Palmetto, giving direct access to Ramah. Ramah rightly claims motherhood; not only to Friendship, but also to Providence, Sardis, Rock Springs, and Palmetto First Baptist Churches.

We did report the 1876 date as our founding one until the minutes of 1953 which give the date of 1877. The 1877 date is the one used on our cornerstone and is the date we honor today. We do not know why 1877 was chosen over the 1876 date to be placed on the cornerstone. We feel there must have been strong evidence founded by our forefathers in the early forties for them to use the latter date; either/ or they chose the date when we first reported to the Fairburn Association.

The associational minutes of the first day, Saturday, the sixth of October, 1877 read that Friendship, a newly constituted church, applied for membership with this body by delegates and petitionary letter was received. This action took place at the tenth annual session of the Fairburn Baptist Association which was held on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, October 6,7 and 8, 1877, at Mt. Vernon Baptist Church.

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