Read the history of the church to solve the puzzle below.
First Baptist Church has built, moved, and renovated its home through the years according to the changing needs of the congregation and community. Athens Baptist Church, constituted January 31, 1830 in the Presbyterian Church building, began with 15 charter members, including natives of Ireland, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Georgia. The church adopted a covenant and rules for operating conferences in 1840, incorporated in 1866, and changed its name to First Baptist Church in 1944. The first pastor, the Reverend James Shannon, a native of Ireland and professor at the University of Georgia, and the 24 who have followed have served the church since its founding providing variations on the themes of evangelism, education, fellowship, and stewardship. The emphasis has remained constant along with the determination to provide a downtown church for the whole Athens area.
Building at Washington and College, the physical home of the church began with a “plain cheap house” on the northwest corner of the University of Georgia campus near the intersection of Broad and Lumpkin streets. The church moved in 1860 to a new facility on Washington Street near College Avenue where it became one of the first buildings in Athens to have gaslights installed. The current location at Hancock and Pulaski became the home in 1921.
First Baptist has a long history of service to the community and of extending its ministry through the establishment and outgrowth of mission churches. A number of congregations developed in the mid-nineteenth century, one being East Athens Baptist Church in 1888. Two decades earlier, the African-American members expressed a desire to form their own congregation. Initially they were encouraged to remain, but subsequently the church accepted their resolve to separate and assisted the 129 African-American members in the development and formation of their new church, Hill First Baptist Church, in 1867.
The twentieth century saw the establishment of missions that have become self-sustaining, including West End Baptist Church, 1907; Milledge Avenue Baptist Church, 1958; and Beech Haven Baptist Church, 1959. First Baptist also cooperated with four other churches in developing the mission in 1986 that became Cleveland Road Baptist Church. Service to the community extends beyond establishment of congregations.
The church benefited from consistent leadership in the twentieth century having four pastors serving for a near eighty-year period: Dr. Jim Wilkinson, 1921-48, Dr. Howard Giddens, 1948-67, The Reverend Julian Cave, 1968-75, Dr. Jon Appleton, 1976-99.
The facility is currently under renovation so there will be muggles around much of the time. I may have to move the cache but as of now we have permission from the pastor to locate the cache here. Since this is private property, please be considerate of church members and propgrams.
Cache Location:
N 33o 57.AAB W 083o 22. CCD
AA = the last 2 digits of the year that the church moved to the Washington St. facility
B = Number of states that charter members came from – 4
CC= the last two digits of the year that Dr. Appleton retired – 9
D = number of charter members – 8
Feel free to attend Sunday services while in search of this geocache.
*** FTF HONORS TO Kalaharifox ***
I am placing a FTF coin there but it is too large for the container. Make sure you don't miss it