Berrien County GaArchives Churches.....Pleasant Primitive Baptist Church
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
S. A. Sanders sandys@tampabay.rr.com and Joyce Nowell August 4, 2003

Pleasant Primitive Baptist Church
(From information submitted by John P. Webb, Sr., and "Historical Notes," 
1956)

According to the records available, Pleasant Church was organized June 27, 
1835.  The charter members were:  James Connell, Jeremiah Shaw, James 
Price, Resby Wilson, George Harnage, Logan Sanders, Anna Harnage, and 
Sarah Connell.
The first church clerk was E.J. Williams and the first pastor, Elder 
Nelson Thigpen.
This is a portion of the Rules of Decorum for Church:  Parrish Meeting 
House (thus called because the organizational meeting was held in the home 
of a Parrish member of the community).
1. Church meeting or conferences shall be constantly and duly attended by 
every member, more especially the males to whom government more 
particularly belongs.
2. Church meetings shall begin and end with divine worship.
3. The pastor of the church shall preside as moderator when present unless 
some objection be made, in which case the church shall make a choice.
4. At the opening of every conference it shall be the duty of the 
moderator to invite visiting brethren of sister churches to seats with the 
brethren of this church and then make known to the congregation that the 
doors of this church are open for the reception of members.  The church 
must then proceed to take up all references and attend to all business 
that comes before them in their order.
5. The moderator shall have the same right to speak as any other member, 
provided the chair be filled; but shall not vote unless the body be 
equally divided.
6. The church shall have a clerk who shall read the minutes, keep a fair 
record of the proceedings, and sign all orders before the conference 
rises, if necessary.
7. Only one person at a time shall speak in debate; and shall rise from 
his seat and address the moderator in a respectful and orderly manner.
8. The member speaking shall strictly attend to the subject in debate, 
shall not reflect on the person that spoke before him by making remarks on 
his mistakes or imperfections of speech, but convey his own ideas.
9. None shall speak the second time to the same proposition until every 
other one wishing to speak has spoken.
10. No member shall whisper, talk or read in the time of a public 
speaking, but give due attention.
Mr. Webb wrote:  "This church carries on the customs of old with 
footwashing and communion once a year with wine from the vineyard prepared 
by the deacons and using unleavened bread prepared by the wives of the deacons.
"I remember far enough back attending this church holding my father's hand 
to go up the doorsteps, drawing water from the well for drinking, the 
braying of horses and mules hitched to the trees, the Hoover buggies, the 
chugging of the Model T's and, yes, even the Cadillacs.
"At Pleasant Church, the pastor sometimes lines out the songs (a practice 
that started when there were not enough song books.  A member still will 
'hiest a tune' to which the song is to be sung (books do not have musical 
notes)."
Pleasant Primitive Baptist Church is the oldest church in present Berrien 
County.  Some of the original timbers are still in the building.  It is 
located about nine miles from Nashville on the Ray City-Adel highway.  In 
1956, there were eight members.  There is also a cemetery there.