Charles Jones

On a winter Sunday morning in February 1779, the sound of gunfire broke the silence along the marshy bottom at the juncture of two small creeks in Wilkes County, Georgia, as men engaged in a life and death struggle. The Battle of Kettle Creek, a pivotal battle and one of the few patriot victories in Georgia, had begun.

WESTFIELD, Ind. (BP) – The following was posted by Baptist Press on Feb. 18, 1966. Under the heading, “Navy Seeks Ministers as Chaplains”:

HULL, Ga. – A government-issue tombstone stands as a silent sentinel over Pvt. Harry L. Spratlin, a World War I soldier killed in action on Oct. 15, 1918, only weeks before the signing of the armistice that brought an end to the hostilities.

RICHMOND, Va. – Highway engineers in Virginia designed a combined section of interstates 64 and 95 to curve gently eastward in downtown Richmond to protect a landmark that serves as a memorial to one of America’s greatest preachers – John Jasper.

David George (1742-1810) spent much of his life as a refugee. He endured beatings, hunger, persecution, poverty, loneliness, harsh environments and war. Yet by God’s grace, he blazed a trail that thousands have followed.

It was against this backdrop that the Savannah Fellowship Meeting took place. The meeting was the first of its kind between Georgia’s largest white and Black Baptist conventions.

Canceling services due to illness is not new to Baptist life. Writer and pastor Charles Jones details how Baptists have responded to other pandemics and come through stronger than before.