Snapshot: Baptist church survived Civil War

STONE MOUNTAIN FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH

5301 Mimosa Drive, Stone Mountain

> Services: 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.

> Worship style: Informal traditional

> Average Sunday attendance: 115

> Minister: Rev. Dan Parker

> Denomination affiliation: Southern Baptist

> Phone: 770-469-6121

> Web site: www.stonemountainfirstbaptist.com

Mission statement

“To express the love of Christ in our community and world in a way that can reach the unsaved with the Gospel.”

History

“The Story of a Village Church” is the title of a booklet printed to commemorate the sesquicentennial celebration. A church was founded in 1839 in the Stone Mountain village then called New Gibraltar. In 1847, the church was reconstituted as Rock Mountain Church with 21 members. Not long after, the town’s name changed to Stone Mountain Town, according to church records. The church’s first building is thought to have been constructed near Second Street. In 1873, that structure was sold and a stucco building was built on Mimosa Street, where the church still stands. The printed records state: “Much of the early church records were concerned with the dismissal of members engaged in sinful behavior, black and white members alike. They labored with Brother Ezekiel for his ‘sin of dancing,’ and he promised to try hard not to.” A church bell was purchased in 1852 to summon villagers to attend services. In 1873 a Sunday school was organized, and by 1888, there were 229 church members. An indication of the church’s name change occurred in 1905 when the pastor delivered 43 songbooks contributed by church members, marked “Property of Stone Mountain Baptist Church.” Throughout the years, church members witnessed the Civil War burning of Atlanta, a measles epidemic in 1878, an influenza outbreak in 1918, and three fires that destroyed various church structures.

Pastor’s path

Rev. Dan Parker, 71, grew up in the Kirkwood part of Atlanta. He attended Baylor University for his undergraduate degree, Southeastern Theological Seminary for seminary and earned a doctorate at the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Parker has served churches in North Carolina and suburban Atlanta before joining the Stone Mountain staff 17 years ago. Of his four children, three boys have entered ministry as a profession, while his daughter volunteers her time in ministry. The pastor also teaches for the New Orleans seminary, both at the Marietta campus and in Phillips State Prison, where about 31 inmates are preparing to enter ministry. After being an adjunct faculty member for 20 years, Parker was named senior professor of pastoral ministries in 2000.

Ministries

The church owns a three-acre plot featuring a pavilion in the middle of Stone Mountain’s village, where various community events are held. Parker said more than 900 people attended this year’s 17th annual fall festival, with 75 or more workers from Stone Mountain First Baptist. Other community events include Easter egg hunts, and July Fourth gospel concerts topped off by a view of the mountain’s fireworks display. The three acres were purchased with the intent of relocating, but First Baptist members realized that wasn’t enough space and kept the property for community functions. First Baptist participates in several ecumenical efforts in the community. Stone Mountain Ministries oversees a campground ministry at Stone Mountain Park, provides a chaplain for park employees and takes part in the Yellow Daisy Festival and Christmas in the Village. The Stone Mountain Ecumenical Cooperative offers a food pantry for needy families, and First Baptist members staff the co-op one month each year. A growing music ministry sponsors special programs three to four times each year with a choir that has doubled in the last 12 months. “Our choir is a good composite of the church. We’re a very diverse church, very people-oriented. We’re a conservative traditional church,” said Parker. Diversity was enhanced during an outreach to refugees from Kosovo, Sudan and Bosnia beginning about eight years ago. “We sustained a pretty good ministry to a good number of Sudanese families, and that ministry opened the door for an openness and an acceptance of people,” said Parker, adding that currently, “on some Sundays, we might have eight or nine different countries represented. We have a wonderful fellowship.”

Thoughts from the pastor

“When God called me to Stone Mountain First Baptist, I had been hurt and was wondering if I had anything to give a church any longer. I did not know that they were in the same condition. God used us both for healing the other and then he began some extraordinary things here for his glory. These have been the best years of my life in ministry. I pray each day that we will together continually glorify him by faithfully following him together. On his rock he is building his church and we eagerly await what she will be.”

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