Country Churches

Bethany Baptist Church lifts the spirits of a rural community in Florida.

Settled among beautiful live oaks and Spanish moss on a well-traveled corner in Myakka City, Florida, you will find a little white church with quite a story to tell. Known for its historic cemetery, Bethany Baptist Church was founded in 1888 to serve the spiri- tual needs of settlers in eastern Manatee County. Back then life was difficult because of tropical diseases, rough conditions and isolation. The members came on horseback and in horse-drawn buggies from 10 miles around. At first they met in a post office. Services were held once a month, as preachers were few and often traveled to a different church each weekend. In 1906 members built a chapel on the current grounds. Dinners and church gatherings were frequent, and members supported each other and their neighbors through good and bad times. A new sanctuary, dining hall and classrooms were added in the 1970s, so today, Bethany Baptist continues to meet the spiritual and social needs of this farming and ranching community. Sunday school and worship services are held every Sunday, followed by dinner on the grounds just like in the old days. And every Wednesday night people gather for dinner and Bible study, as well as for a vibrant youth group and children’s classes. The church also offers vacation Bible school every summer, a clothes closet, food pantry and holiday outreaches and activities. Bethany Baptist is involved in missions, sending teams to work in Haiti. Twice a week we share our historic chapel with a church that ministers in Spanish to the large migrant community in our area. Bethany is a close-knit church with a rich history and a longstanding tradition of devotion to God, love for people and strong ties to this rural community. Some of the current members are descended from those original pioneer families. And like the founders, we look back with thanks on all that God has done, and we look forward with excitement to what God will do through us in the years to come.

Live oaks and Spanish moss decorate the grounds of Bethany Baptist Church. Members built a chapel in 1906 (below) and later added a sanctuary, dining hall and classrooms in the 1970s (left).