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(6.)
Sesquicentennial
Celebration
Liberty ~ Graham Baptist Church, Butlerville,
Jennings County, Indiana
The Association was very important to
the church members from the very first meeting. Although each Church
handled their own affairs and were independent the Association helped by
setting in counsel, ordaining Pastors and Deacons, and inspecting,
giving advise. In 1829, Graham sat in the Coffee Creek
Association and joined in Council until 1832. At that time Coffee Creek
had grown very large and the distance between Churhes was so great that
all the Baptist Churches east of the railroad (the Jeffersonville, Madison
and Indianapolis Railroad; first stretch of track in Indiana) formed a new
Association, taking the name of Madison Association, after the largest
Church.
"Madison Baptist Association, organized at
Ebenezer Church of Coffee Creek Association in 1832 and the following
Churches of said Coffee Creek Association
were Charter Members of Madison
Association, viz Bear Creek, Bethel, Brushy Fork, Concord (now
Butlerville), Freedom, Harberts Creek {now Wirt), Hebron,
Indian-Kentucky, Liberty {now Graham), Madison, Middle Fork, Vernon,
Versailles and West Fork."5
It is interesting to note that now only Freedom, Graham, Hebron,
Indian-Kentuck, Madison, Wirt and West Fork are still members of the
Madison Association. Most of the others formed other Associations as more
Churches were organized. As far as it can be determined, Graham has
attended every Annual Association Meeting since 1829. Indeed, she felt it
her sacred duty to attend these gatherings. The meetings lasted two or
three days. It was considered a high honor to be chosen a messenger and
bear the Church letter to the annual meeting. In 1854, when Graham
entertained the Association for the first time, bleachers were built I in
the grove "Teams were sent to meet the train in Butlerville and
Dupont."1 Many opened their homes to house the visitors overnight.
Graham is still very active in the Association, especially in the Mission
work and Brotherhood areas. Also, they occasionally the Associational BYF
meetings.
Missions were an important part of Graham from the beginning. She,
along with other sister Churches in the Association, supported home
missions "that a Baptist Church be established in every county of our
new state."3 Later, foreign Missions were stressed also. A Missionary
Secretary was chosen each year to take up. the Missionary money.. In 1944,
the first,women's missionary Society was organ1zed, which remains very
active to this day. In 1976, a new Circle of employed ladies was added,
called the "Martha Frances Vinson. Circle," taking their name
after a long
time member of the Church and
granddaughter of Brother Jacob Cox.
The original Missionary group then chose as their name the "Ethel
Morris Circle", honoring their eldest member and long time worker in
the Church. A Ladies' Aid was previously active at Graham during the early
1900's.
B. Y. F. has in turn been very unstable, sometimes very active and then
disbanded for a time The first B.Y.P.U. was organized in 1897. At the
present time there is no organized B.Y.F. The first written history of the
Church published in the 1867 Association Minutes, reads in part,
"received into
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