history

In 1889 Tifton, Georgia, was a small and fledgling community made up of a sawmill and turpentine stills and was filled with a lawless element fighting over land lines and timber rights. Just seven years earlier both the Justice of the Peace and court bailiff resigned their positions to establish the Tifton Methodist and Mt. Hermon churches, deciding that the community needed morality, not just laws.  First Baptist Church was officially organized that year as an outgrowth of Mt. Hermon Church.

 

Dr. B.D. Ragsdale wrote in his book A History of Georgia Baptist as follows: “The membership of the newly formed church in Tifton was spoken of in 1890 as small and poor and without house.” He went on to record that someone voiced a prophetic note saying that it would become an important place.

 

More than 115 years later this prophecy continues to manifest itself as the congregation offers ministries and programs of a large regional church without sacrificing the warmth and friendliness of a smaller church family.

 

First Baptist continues to seek opportunities to share the love of Christ in the Tiftarea, in Georgia, the country, and internationally while striving to grow believers in their faith and walk with the Lord.