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HISTORY OF 'HIE FIRST BAPFIST CHURCH OF BAY ST. UXUS
1896 - 1983
From the historical sketch of the work of the Baptists on the Mississippi Gulf Coast published by the Reverend 0. D. Bovven in 1882. it appears that the first Baptist sermon was preached/by the Reverend Benjamin Whitfield in Bay St. Louis, in February 1846. Shortly thereafter in 1858 a church known as Elim was constituted with fourteen members, equally divided between whites and blacks, with Elder W. H. Vamado of Hancock County as the first pastor. It was located a short distance from Bay St. Louis.
After the Civil War the races were separated. At the suggestion of Reverend J.
B.	Hamberlin, a missionary pastor appointed by the State Mission Board, the Elim Baptist Church was dissolved and a new church organised by him will) thirteen members on May 20, 1877. This was the first Baptist Church ever located within the township of Bay St. Louis. Records state that Alston J. Whitfield was the first person to be baptized here. The pastor was Rev. 0. P. Bowen. The Church met on the third Sunday of each month. It contributed $55.00 to missions. This church was still in existence as late as 1894, with preaching by missionaries sent out. by the State Mission Board. In 1891 the church had nine nxmtx?rs and J. .1. W. Mathis as pastor. Services were held on a weekday. In 1891 Mathis was succeeded by -I. L. Tull with memliership of seven. rFhe Meth<xlist Church was used lor their services.
From the booklet Gulf Coast Baptist Association Incorjxjrated. 1877-1967 by Jesse L. Boyd, Sr., ivn learn that Reverend .1. B. ll;iml>'rl in cany to Occan Springs in 1873 in search of health. His health soon became sufficiently restored for him to do Mission work. 1'he Mississippi Baptist State Mission Board nnployed him to load in the work. The Providence Baptist Association of Alabama was at this time sponsoring the Baptist Cause along the Gulf Coast all the way to New Orleans, but it seems that some of the churches had ceased to function, namely Biloxi and Ocean Springs.