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Brief History of The Torch My grandfather, M.C. "Cliff" Bennett was a church planter. He organized Homer Church of God and then on May 12, 1952 the Baldwin Church of God. My memories are from dad's years at Baldwin. My dad, Rev. Horace Bennett (below), became During the early years I remember moving here from the Milledgeville church to the parsonage (it's the little house on the north corner of Baldwin Falls Road and Park Avenue near Baldwin Elementary School. It holds lots of memories for me. The first and second I remember my mom, dad and Jarrell Williams' mother, Sister Thelma Williams, (occasionally a few more would help but mostly those three) cooked chicken and steak dinners and dad would deliver them at lunch time to local stores and plants. I remember one time Sister Williams spilled hot grease on her hand trying to move a deep fryer. It immediately turned red and blistered. She, mom and dad prayed and kept on working; the red blisters disappeared before they finished for the day. Lots of times we went to bed hungry because my dad always told the clerk to pay the bills first, because he felt a church must maintain a good standing with the community. I remember lots of times he would receive $12 a week salary but if a member came by who needed a few dollars dad would share with them without them knowing he didn't have much. My mom, however, knew lots of creative ways to stretch potatoes, gravy and biscuits!
I remember on a personal note, gettting married there and my marriage has lasted 40 years. I remember being pregnant with our first child and also being one of seven mothers who gave birth about the same time. My husband taught Sunday School for the youth and every time we would add on and fix up a room we would outgrow it. I'm proud to say that most of the young people who attended are still serving God and working in the churches in this area. In earlier times, we could leave the church doors unlocked and people would stop in and pray. People in the community and others just passing by would comment on the church being a "praying church". I think this is one of the reasons God blessed the church so Thank you for allowing me to tell you a little history about the church. My dad died in 1997 while still pastoring in South Georgia. My mother is still alive and lives in Habersham County. I'm honored that you would be interested in knowing where the church originated and how it used to be. The 15 years my dad and mom pastored Baldwin Church of God was a special time for my family. Throughout his life, my dad always looked back fondly on his years at Baldwin. -Patricia Bennett Dillard (June 2006)
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pastor in 1958 when we moved here from Milledgeville. He pastored Baldwin for 15 years. These were hard years as far as finances, but good years as far as growth. The church we first came to was a small tin-roofed frame church, next to the city hall in Baldwin on the same side of the road. The building still exists today. I remember having to go outside each Sunday morning, around to the back of the church and into the dirt basement to have Sunday School. My dad later cut a stairwell up front so we didn't have to go ourside. Our attendance grew so much we had to build a new church down the road on the right. It was built in August 1960 when the Pastor was Rev. Horace Bennett and the Trustees were Gene Martin, R.A. Southerland and James Simmons.
weeks living in the parsonage were unique as the house didn't have a stove or refrigerator and we had come from a fully furnished parsonage. We had very little furniture, mostly beds. Someone brought us a used refrigerator but no one had a stove. So Brother Ben Slayton and his wife bought a double hot plate, which we used until the church had a fundraiser and got enough money to buy a stove. Funds were tight in those days, even though we had big crowds. We probably averaged 100 to 150 on Wednesday, Friday Y.P.E. (Young People's Endeavor, a weekly youth service), Sunday morning and Sunday night. Our attendance was approximately the same for all services. Most were farmers or factory workers.
Now for some memories of good times. I remember the men building the second church and Luke Parson's wife's dad (Brother Barrett) and her uncle (from Dahlonega, Georgia) building the steeple for the church. My dad placed a Bible in the steeple. I believe it is still there. I remember wonderful singing, heart-felt worship, people looking in every window (opened because there was no air conditioning) in the spring and summer, to see what was happening inside. Of course, it was the Spirit moving: people shouting, running the aisles and the back of the pews- just old-fashioned worship. I remember a man falling out in the Spirit and hitting the hot stove that we used for several years to heat the building. It didn't even burn him.
much. The church also sponsored a 30-minute radio program each Sunday for 15 years on WCON, which helped keep the church and its programs in the public eye. Many ministers came out of the church. The Umbehants (Ricky's family) can also tell you about this time, as they have been in discussions with a man in the community about buying the property where the third church was built. It was several years later before they decided to buy the property and build the church to which The Torch recently moved.