Zion Hill Baptist Church honors 180-year history at Homecoming
This display, located in the fellowship hall of Zion Hill Baptist Church, features the orig- inal handwritten church constitution and minutes from the 1840s. The sign above, once displayed on the church building, is also part of the exhibit. (photo:Pete Gwada )
The congregation has been worshiping at Zion Hill, the church with two cemeteries, since the 1840s.
Early records of the church, located on Cardin Gap Road about one-tenth of a mile from the intersection with Hinds Creek Road, are incomplete.
The few existing handwritten records are often difficult to read, with black ink fading to brown, and the paper turning yellow.
A sign on the front of the building states the church was organized in 1842.
However, in February 1840, according to minutes from Bethel Baptist Church, that congregation requested help from ministers and deacons of Clear Branch Baptist Church (now Longfield Baptist Church) to organize a new church, Zion Hill, near Hinds Creek.
The earliest available records show that Zion Hill held preaching followed by a business session on the second Saturday in September 1840. The church continued meeting on the second Saturday of each month for several months, after which there is a gap of more than a year in records.
Minutes from a meeting held on the second Saturday in May 1842 indicate the church adopted a constitution that day. This may explain why 1842 is listed as the founding date on the church sign. The original handwritten constitution, along with early minutes from the 1840s, are framed in the church fellowship hall.
Due to the lack of written documentation, much of the history comes from recollections of elderly members whose ties to Zion Hill span generations.
Since the church has no baptistry, members were baptized in nearby creeks and the Clinch River. One tradition members recall from earlier days is the “shouting.” They remain “shouting Baptists,” as shown by the enthusiasm at the recent Homecoming.
The present church building was constructed about 1940, according to members, and once housed a wood-burning potbellied stove, common in older churches.
Sunday School classes were held in the basement, and later, rooms were added to the back of the church. The adjacent fellowship hall was built in the early 1990s.
Members have been told a previous building stood at the edge of the current parking lot. While they can point out the location, no one interviewed remembers the structure or had a description of it.
Zion Hill is unique in having two cemeteries. The new cemetery is behind the church on land donated by Sam Foster, who owned the adjacent property, before his death in 1936.
The old cemetery has graves dating to the early 1800s, and is on a small rise at the intersection of Cardin Gap and Hinds Creek roads. Elderly members recall being told the original church stood at this site. But no one is certain of its exact location or why the church moved.
It is believed that the small rise was being filled with graves, leaving no room for expansion.
A man who made tombstones is said to have lived near the old cemetery, and it is thought that he crafted many of the headstones there.
When Zion Hill was established, it belonged to the Northern Association of United Baptists.
In September 1853, according to Bethel’s records, 15 area churches, including Zion Hill and Bethel, withdrew from that organization to form the Clinton Association of Baptists, now known as the Clinton Baptist Association.
Zion Hill later withdrew from the Clinton Baptist Association, and is now an independent Baptist church.
Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, located a short distance up Cardin Gap Road, was organized in 1924.
For many years, Zion Hill shared a pastor with Mount Pleasant, with services alternating between the two churches.
One older member said her parents would attend whichever church was holding services on a particular Sunday.