Jasper County · Marker 27-13
Great Swamp Baptist Church
Intersection of S.C. Sec. Rd. 27-22 and S.C. Sec. Rd. 27-39, Ridgeland
Front inscription
This church, organized October 12, 1845, was the result of a clash in doctrines at nearby Sardis Baptist Church. Some in the congregation favored the primitive Baptist movement, but others, including Rev. John N. Youmans, favored a ministry based on missions. Seventeen members then left Sardis to form a new, more missionary church, with Rev. Youmans as their minister.
Reverse inscription
A brush arbor served as the first meeting place until a small one room frame sanctuary was built. A larger sanctuary was completed in 1909, and Sunday school rooms were added in 1925. Baptisms took place at "Old Dam" on the nearby stream until the 1950s. Great Swamp Baptist Church called its first full-time minister in 1956. Church membership in 1998 exceeds 600.