Thomas Donahue, a circuit rider preacher, rode the 65 miles from Jackson to the rolling hills of Jefferson County, to a small community west of the area now known as Pevely along a sandy creek, to save souls.
The year was 1816, and the people there were pioneers who ventured west. They formed a congregation in 1824, and Sandy Creek Baptist Church was established with seven charter members – Fleming Hensley, Jane Hensley, James Hensley, Mrs. Alyde, John Harrington and Mr. and Mrs. Frazier, according to the church’s homecoming booklet from 1999.
The members hewed logs and built the first church building at a cost of $200. That building was later abandoned, and in 1843, the congregation built a frame church in a new location for a total of $600. In 1878, with bricks congregation members made from clay, a church was built that is still used today.
“We call it our Youth House, and we use it for Sunday school and youth activities,” said the Rev. David Wells, the church’s pastor.
The church is said to be the oldest Protestant and Baptist church in Jefferson County and the 18th oldest Baptist church west of the Mississippi, according to research completed by the Rev. Jeb Bonine, a former pastor.
The interesting thing though about Sandy Creek Baptist Church is its seamless continuity, Wells said.
“There are other old churches, but the unusual thing about this church is there was never a break. It has always been an active church,” he said.
And Sandy Creek Baptist Church members have been active in the community, too. Not long after the church was established, charter member Fleming Hensley donated land near the church for a school that served children in the area for more than 100 years, until the Hillsboro School District was formed in 1950, according to the homecoming booklet.
After that, the church used the old building for Sunday school, until the 1980s.
Sometime in the 1950s, the church lost the creek part of its name and became Sandy Baptist Church. In 1964, members broke ground for the congregation’s current church building. It was completed in 1966.
After 190 years, generation after generation has walked in the footsteps of their forefathers. Descendants of the Hensley family that first formed the church went on to pastor the church with Hutson Hensley serving as pastor from 1854 to 1858 and Joel Hensley serving from 1869 until 1880. In fact, there were members of the Hensley family who attended the church until very recently, Wells said.
Other families have embraced the tradition, he said.
“We have families who have raised children and those children are raising children here,” Wells said.
And like the circuit riding preacher, through the years, members of Sandy Creek Baptist Church helped start other churches, helped missionaries, started bus ministries, and still today, the church is active helping others facing natural disasters in far away places or close to home.
Members of the church helped clean up communities and comfort people in New Orleans after Katrina, in Joplin after the tornado, on the East Coat after Hurricane Sandy, in De Soto after flooding last year, Wells said.
“The church has a chainsaw ministry, three shower units and a mud-out unit that is used to clean up homes after a flood,” he said.
On Sunday, June 1, 2014, members will celebrate their history with a special Homecoming to celebrate their 190th anniversary. The speaker will be Dwain Carter, Missouri Baptist Convention director of disaster relief. The event will kick off a revival that will meet every night through Wednesday.
