​Camden Point Baptist Church was organized in 1844, under the direction of Elder Peter W. Swain. There were originally 14 charter members. They were Elijah Phumpery, Oliver Phumpery, Mary Ann Phumpery, Jonas Phumpery, Bird S. Phumpery, Lucy Jane Phumpery, Benjamin Eliot, Bird Wilson, Lucy Wilson, Matthew Wilson, Sarah Wilson, Wilmuth Laswell, John C. Bywaters, and Sarah Jasper. At first meetings were held from house to house of these members, and later in the School House. In 1845 they chose the name Pleasant Grove Baptist Church. The name was changed to Camden Point Baptist Church in 1931.

Not much is known of the first church building, but meeting minutes mention taking an offering for ‘our new church house’. That first church building used to sit 1/2 mile north of the current site, next to the Pleasant Grove Cemetery. As you may know, our church, primarily Jody, helps mow and maintain that cemetery. Pleasant Grove cemetery is currently the 3rd oldest Confederate Cemetery west of the Mississippi River. 

   The long and rich history of the Confederate cemetery, along with the civil war Battle of Camden Point in 1864, will be covered in next month’s Beacon bulletin/newsletter. 

   At a January meeting in 1891, it was decided to move the church into the town of Camden Point, but this did not occur until 1895, when  it was moved from the location just north of here to our current location.

   So that’s some of our church’s history, and our connection to the Pleasant Grove name. Much of this information is in a booklet called Camden Point Baptist Church 1844-2005, and is available to members if you’d like more details.