FBC Chatom celebrates century of divine mission

The approximately 300 people gathered at First Baptist Church, Chatom, on Aug. 23 celebrated 100 years of carrying out a divinely given mission of planting churches and preparing leaders of the faith.

In that time, the Washington Baptist Association church has ordained/licensed eight men as ministers and helped organize five Washington County churches — Four Points, Rutan, Three Forks, Spring Hill and McIntosh, according to a written history prepared for the anniversary.

A centennial service was followed by dinner on the grounds.

In 1909, the church was organized by three couples (Dr. John and Susie Chason, Tom and Annie Dees and Madison L. and Willie W. Smith), two brothers (James and Joe Granade) and a mother (Martha Dees, mother of Tom Dees) and daughter (Belle Dees Moss).

Today some of their relatives continue to be active in First, Chatom, which is led by Pastor Monte Mills. Two of them — Penny Schell and Audrey Henson — co-chaired the committee planning the centennial celebration. Schell’s late husband, Gene, was a great-grandson of Martha Dees, as is Henson’s husband, Davis.

According to Lucille Granade, whose late husband, Joe, was the son of James Granade, in the church’s early days, it briefly met in Tom Dees’ mercantile store. Then, when the Washington County Courthouse was completed, the congregation began to meet there.

T.E. Tucker served as the first pastor until his death in 1914, according to the written history. During Tucker’s tenure, the church began work on its first building at a cost of $1,500. The Chasons donated the land.

The church constructed the main portion of its current building between 1953 and 1955. Then-Pastor Mack H. Jones led the congregation in the first service in the new building Sept. 8, 1954. The service was held in the downstairs section of the building because the upstairs auditorium was not completed for several more months. The auditorium was dedicated on Easter in 1955.

In the 1980s, a two-story annex was constructed behind the building. Later that decade, a western annex including preschool Sunday School rooms, offices and a fellowship hall was added.

Schell said she knows why First, Chatom, has thrived.

“[The church] is friendly,” she said. “It reaches out to people, and it’s very interested in the different age groups within the church.”