4229 Mineral Springs Mountain Road, Connelly Springs, NC 28612
History of the Church
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Originally organized as a Missionary Baptist Church back in 1884, and Rev. W.F. Hull was elected the pastor. In 1889 Abee’s Chapel was closed and was not reopened until 1900. In 1900 the church reopened with Rev. J.G. Benfield as pastor. Our church began in a one-room log building. Sometime during 1900, a new board church was built to replace this one-room log church. In 1930, new Sunday School rooms were added. John Abee and Zeb Lowman donated the lumber, and Carl Lowman donated the saw bill. We joined the Catawba River Baptist Association in 1884. Records show that Abee’s Chapel withdrew from the Catawba River Association in 1911, when the South Mountain Baptist Association was organized. Abee’s Chapel joined the South Mountain Association in 1912. Our church remained a member of this Association until membership was withdrawn on September 18, 1988. In 1956, additional land was purchased and the new church building was constructed. Remodeling of this structure, with additions of a Baptistry and Fellowship Hall, was completed in 1982. We know there were a number of pastors and supply pastors who served from 1884 to 1929 that we will not try to list here for fear of leaving any one name out in error. The confirmed list of Pastors is as follows: C.A. Abernethy 1929-1938 Otis Cook 1938-1943Homer Messer 1943-1947 Jason Stillwell 1947-1952 Horace Harris 1952-1955 Mack Hodge 1955-1974 Buren Hastings 1974-2001 Buddy Sizemore 2001-Present Reverend Mack Hodge became the pastor in July 1955, and the first full-time pastor April 7, 1963. He served as pastor until his resignation on July 7, 1974 to go into full time mission field. Reverend Buren Hastings preached his first sermon on August 4, 1974. Buren was elected the pastor on September 15, 1974, and he served as the pastor until he passed away in August 2001. The Deacons were voted in as the Pulpit Committee after Buren’s death. Rev. Pat Mourglea filled in as the Interim Pastor until a new pastor was found. After much prayer, the committee recommended Rev. Buddy Sizemore as the new Pastor. The votes were tallied and Buddy Sizemore officially became the pastor in November of 2001. In September 1959, Ronder Crawford was elected as choir director; and served until his death over 44 years later. Ivey Lowman was elected as church clerk in September 1961; he resigned from this position in the year 2001. We have a lot of hard working and dedicated members serving our church in different positions and capacities, which may seem to go unnoticed; but we are deeply grateful and would like to say thank you to each of you. Our church continues to be mission minded supporting both Home Missions and Foreign Missions directly. We also maintain our radio broadcast each Sunday at 1:00 PM on WYCV Granite Falls radio station. As time continues, so does growth and improvement at our church. Abee’s Chapel offers many opportunities to learn about and serve our Lord. VBS, Choir, Youth Camp, County Camp Meeting, WMU, R.A.’s, G.A.’s, and Mission Friends are among the many notable things done and offered by Abee’s Chapel. There’s a place for everyone. We need to pray that the Lord will continue to use Abee’s Chapel Baptist Church to spread the Gospel, and that we, as a church, will follow HIS guidance….
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Updated August 19, 2008