Church heart of county for some
The Bethsaida ‘Y’ Baptist Church seems to sit at the center of Cass County in some unique way.
Perhaps this is because it is nearing 140 years old and is, indeed, close to the geographical center, although Linden holds that distinction.
Perhaps it is because the church’s name is so unusual. The ‘Y’ church is so-called because of a railroad turnabout that existed nearby, not because county roads 4230, 4228, 4223 and 4227 meet here and one can drive off in five directions.
The ‘Y’ is really “wye,” a railroad term for a Y-shaped meeting of tracks formed when it was necessary to turn individual pieces of railroad equipment or whole trains.
And the church is—or once was—close to several ponds and group baptisms were held in them. Striking baptismal pictures prove the religious devotion of those days, especially around the 1920s. Walker’s and Holland’s ponds are two of the best-known.
In later years, when the church building did not have its own baptistry, they used the one at West End Baptist Church in Atlanta.
The church goes back to 1878. Atlanta itself traces only to 1871. The ‘Y’ church began meeting in an old schoolhouse next to the cemetery for part of the year and in a brush arbor tabernacle at other times. Its original name was the Baptist Church of Christ at Bethsaida ‘Y.’ “Bethsaida” was the biblical home town of Peter and Andrew.
The church drew a lot of its members from workers and families of the Grogan Sawmill in the Bivins area. After meeting in the school building, Bethsaida built its second church in 1909. It was known as the brush arbor ‘Y’ church when the congregation moved from the cemetery and its school building to its present site just across the street.
Membership was at a high of 250 in 1908. Another brush tabernacle built next to the brick building burned June 15, 1914. Church members thought the cause was a spark from a passing train and said so. The railroad paid the church $400. Nine years passed before the church attempted to rebuild the arbor, but it did so in 1924 with a tin roof.
Church members continued to have a fascination with the outdoors and every so often has held dinners out on the grounds and on tables underneath the trees. A baseball field nearby has attracted community players.
In 1971, the church built a brick parsonage for which, within 16 months, all loans were paid. In 1977, the church was remodeled
with four Sunday school rooms and the result is essentially the church building of today.
Church members like to recall that one Sunday the pastor said he would get on the roof and sing if 200 were present at Sunday school. When 202 arrived, the pastor climbed up there.
“Pastor Jim Richardson was always trying something different, and the church would say, ‘But we’ve never done that before,’” Donna Sikes said. “He couldn’t sing very well, but he sang ‘Amazing Grace’ from the porch-top.”
J.G. Williams was one of the most popular and longest-serving ministers. He pastored on and off for 37 years beginning in 1907. At times of low attendance, the church often had services only once a month, and the building would be empty on all other weekends until the fourth Sunday’s arrival of the preacher.
It is this continuance, however, that lingers in the minds of those who know of “the” Bethsaida ‘ Y’ Baptist Church.
Perhaps church member Wayne Sikes said it best recently.
“This is my church since childhood. There was a plan for it then and now. The cemetery nearby is filled with those who lived according to that plan. That’s what I’m doing now, too. I’d rather be part of a small group that follows that plan than a large group that doesn’t.”