PURPOSE
The purpose of this document is to
preserve the history of First Baptist Church of Hamilton by using the
published minutes of the Leon River Baptist Association and the Hamilton
County Baptist Association/Hamilton County Missionary Baptist
Association/Hamilton Baptist Association.
In this work I have viewed the
association as an extension of the church, the Baptist General Convention
of Texas as an extension of Hamilton Baptist Association, and the Southern
Baptist Convention as an extension of the BGCT--all a part of the work of
our Master. "Go ye therefore, into all the
world--teaching--preaching--baptizing--in Jerusalem, in Samaria, and unto
the ends of the earth."
My thanks to Arvord M. Abernethy for
information he has recorded and shared about this church and for his
direction in where to look for additional information. Mr. Abernethy has
been the historian of Hamilton County and Baptists in Hamilton County for
decades. My thanks also to Lee Roy and Betty Williamson and to Jerry
Stratton and to the Roberts Library, at Southwestern Baptist Theological
Seminary for providing access to the minutes I did not inherit.
It is with gratitude that I pay
tribute to my ancestors who have participated in Hamilton County Baptist
Association and Blue Ridge Baptist Church since they moved to Hamilton
County, October 31, 1907. Without them and their influence, this project
would not have been possible. My great-grandparents, Thomas Edwin
Stribling and Martha Mariah "Mattie" Kirkland Stribling, began
the tradition of saving the printed minutes of Hamilton County Baptist
Association. The tradition was continued by their children Anna Jane
"Annie" Stribling, Neil Augustus Stribling, and John Thaddeus
"Jack’ Stribling who served as clerks and treasurer of HCBA. Auntie
(Anna Jane) is still the only lady ever to have convened an opening
session of the annual meeting of HCBA. My grandparents-- James Wesley
"Jim" Crain and Amanda Elizabeth Stribling Crain, and my
parents-- Robert Verne Crain and Clara Elsie Fergusson Crain also
continued the practice of saving the minutes and ensuring that I would
inherit them. From infancy my parents took me to every Workers’
Conference and every Annual Association meeting.
It is with joy that I share my
legacy.
Elreeta Crain Weathers
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
Isaiah 6:8
Then I heard
the voice of the Lord, saying,
"Whom
shall I send? And who will go for us?"
And I said,
"Here am I. Send me!"
Jeremiah 32:17
Ah, Sovereign
Lord,
you have made
the heavens
and the earth
by thy great power and outstretched arm.
Nothing is too
hard for you.