BETHEL BAPTIST CHURCH: Located on Little Left Hand, Geary District, this church traces its beginning back to just after the close of the Civil War. The exact date of the organization was not preserved but the church is known to be closely associated with the first Baptist church organized in Geary District, in 1840, at the home of Charles Drake, on Sandy.



Earliest meetings were held in an old school house on Left Hand; later the congregation moved to another school house, and still later, services were held in a church at Amma, in conjunction with a Methodist group. It was not until 1907 that a church was erected. H. R. Carper, Sr., and Savannah Carper, his wife, conveyed to J. M. Harper, S. V. Carper and F. P. Parker, Trustees, the lot on which the present church stands. The dedication of the new church was held in 1907 with Rev. N. B. Hamrick delivering the dedicatory sermon.

The church operated and grew for several years but tragedy struck in the mid-twenty's when a cyclone hit the neighborhood. The church was hard hit, being twisted almost half-way round, de-roofed and left a mass wreckage. Money was scarce in the community and the congregation decided the build-ing could not be restored. However, being without their church was more than the people of the community could not endure and in 1930 the wreckage was torn away; some of the timber salvaged, the church rebuilt and has served the people without interruption the past 26 years.

It is remembered that the church was served in its early days by such great Baptist leaders as Rev. Davisson W. Ross and Rev. Billy Burns. Then came Rev. C. C. Carper (father of Waitman Carper) who pastored the church many years. Rev. C. H. Chandler and Rev. M. P. Lowe. The present pastor is Rev. Ronal Young and present trustees are F. P. Parker and O. P. Carper.

Source: THE TIMES RECORD, Spencer, Roane County, West Virginia, Centennial Edition 1856 - 1956, Published Thursday, October 11, 1956

Scanned and Transcribed By: Carol Cronin