Wesleyan Drive Baptist Church - Macon, Georgia

Wesleyan Drive Baptist History

In 1963 North Macon was growing with homes being built and new families moving into the community. It was Daniel Sydney Wagnon, Chairman of the Missions Committee of Ingleside Baptist Church, who had a vision of starting a new work to reach the area residents for Jesus. He and the committee located the present church site and purchased 10.5 acres, part of our present property, so that a church could be started.

To begin a new work takes a great deal of commitment, hard work, and prayer. The beginning has been described as "mountain climbing - breath taking, hard and challenging." Mr. Wagnon had the vision and a core group of people came together to begin this ministry of Jesus. The committee process actually began in 1961 with the first Sunday service being held on April 21, 1963.

Photo: The original church, the converted home purchased from the Blake & India Hunt Jones family.

A Look Back at 1963

27 Feb. 1963: The Missions Committee of Ingleside Baptist Church met to discuss the founding of a new church in North Macon. Members of the committee were: Chairman, Daniel Sydney Wagnon, Mrs. George Fiske, Mrs. T. Lynn Davis, Sr., Mrs. Joe Z. Garrett, Mrs. W. T. Colquitt, Mrs. W. E. Smith, and Mr. W. O. McNair.

4 March 1963: Ingleside Baptist Church gave its blessing for a new church to be started, but no financial backing.

7 March 1963: First pre-organizational meeting in the Blake C. Jones home at 939 Wesleyan Drive. Thirty-nine people met for a prayer service to discuss the founding of a new church. Brother Wagnon prayed, “We do not seek the easy way, Lord, only your presence and guidance in this vital matter, and Your will be done every step of the way.” The group decided to “continue, as the Lord directed them.”

21 March 1963: Second pre-organizational meeting.

16 April 1963: 10 ½ acres of property at 939 Wesleyan Drive purchased from Mrs. India Hunt Jones.

21 April 1963: The first Sunday service on our property. Brother Wagnon preached on Romans 12:1-2.

24 April 1963: The first Prayer Meeting with twenty present. One person later remembered, “Long after the service did the group linger and speak of the blessings we were receiving and ask what was needed to be done in preparation for our second Sunday. Each would-be member was finding a place of service.”

5 May 1963: Rev. Jimmy Waters of Mabel White Baptist Church led the first PUBLIC worship. Forty-one people were received into the fellowship of the church at the close of the service.

June 1963: The Rev. Harry M. Carswell of Harriman, Tennessee was called to be the first Interim Pastor while he continued his education at Mercer University. He served in that capacity from July 14, 1963 until August 31, 1966.

6 October 1963: Charter Day! Sixty-seven members signed the scroll made by Mr. Harry Arrington. This scroll is now hanging in the side entranceway in the Sanctuary Building.

8 November 1963: Renovations to the church in the former Blake Jones home were completed by 11:00 pm. Church members retired homeward looking forward to the book signing of Brother Syd Wagnon’s book, Israel and the Lord’s Return, which was to be held there the next morning. About an hour later a fire sparked in the building. One member later wrote, “The fire leaped lustily in the chill of the wee hours and completely consumed our little church and all its equipment!”

~~ Information from "30 Years a Lighthouse: A Brief History of the Growth and Ministry of Wesleyan Drive Baptist Church" published for Homecoming Service 1993, author unknown.