From the June 11, 2007 Savannah Morning News web site:
"New Ogeechee Missionary Baptist Church could become the first
property listed on Chatham County's Register of Historic
Places.
A modest steeple and a simple cross cast a short shadow on the
metal roof at New Ogeechee Missionary Baptist Church.
The clapboard structure, located just off Chevis Road, reflects
the bright June sunshine in a blinding white glare as vehicles whiz
past the picket fence that separates church property and the road's
right-of-way.
Few drivers slow down enough to see the placard that declares
the church is on the National Register of Historic Places. Fewer
still stop to worship on any given Sunday.
Instead, it's local families - many of whom can trace their
ancestry back to former slaves from the area, including Wild Heron
Plantation - who are counted among the congregation's faithful.
In 1893, this dedicated congregation was the first to establish
itself in a building south of the Little Ogeechee River, following
a split from Bethel Missionary Baptist Church. More recently, in
2005, the congregation hired its first female leader, Pastor Joyce
McClendon Frazier.
On Monday, the Chatham County Commission is expected to approve
making New Ogeechee Missionary Baptist the first property listed on
Chatham County's Register of Historic Places.
"It's very important," Frazier said. "It's a landmark. The
generation coming up now needs to know what we went through to get
this building. It took a lot of time and effort and prayer."
County commissioners voted in November 2005 to adopt a
preservation ordinance that also created the Chatham County
Historic Preservation Commission.
The goal of the preservation commission is straightforward: to
preserve and protect historic places in unincorporated areas.
Places like New Ogeechee church that are tucked away in
sometimes forgotten corners of the county. Places frozen in time.
Places bursting with historical significance.
Places the county doesn't want to forget.
"We are really excited about having our first listing," said
Ellen Harris, a preservation planner at the Metropolitan Planning
Commission. "We have a couple of others still behind (New
Ogeechee), but it is a huge step for the county."
Documenting the historical significance of the church was easier
because the congregation had been added to the national registry
six years ago, Harris said.
"A lot of research was already done," Harris said. "And since
the national register nomination is public record ... it made it go
a little more smoothly."
Built by freed slaves following the Civil War on land donated by
J.D. Campbell, the church was one of three serving the Burroughs
community, Harris said.
"It's an excellent example of a rural African-American church,"
she said. "Little has changed, so it's a great example."
While local and national historic registries need plenty of
documentation, Sarah McClendon, the church mother who has been a
part of the congregation for more than 55 years, said there are
volumes of personal experiences in the midst of the modest
sanctuary.
"I've attended here since I was a baby," she said. "I grew up in
this church."
She recalls being 10 or 12 years old and sitting with her
siblings on the hard wooden pew closest to the wood-burning stove
used to heat the church on cold mornings.
She also remembers hauling buckets of water from her family
home, located across the street.
With no electricity then, the congregation went to extremes.
"Any night service was done by lamp light," she said.
A renovation a few years ago provided running water and
electricity. Hand-held paper funeral home fans, though still
available, have been replaced with air conditioning.
On a typical Sunday, as many as 21 faithful congregants will
attend services.
As it was for those who sat in the pews before them, the first
Sunday of each month is dedicated to sharing communion. The fourth
Sunday each month is spent in neighboring churches.
"It's an adventure. It's fulfilling. It's joyous," Frazier said
of leading the parishioners during the last two years.
She succeeded her father, the Rev. John T. McClendon, after he
retired in 2005, and she is Sarah McClendon's daughter.
It's the second time the church had two generations follow each
other in the pulpit. The church's first pastor, the Rev. F.E.
Washington, was succeeded by his son.
Frazier's mother was instrumental in getting the historic church
recognized, first nationally and now locally.
"To see it come as far as we have is a blessing," Sarah
McClendon said. "It holds a special place in my heart."
Like her mother, Frazier believes that by honoring the past, it
is easier for the congregation to look to the future - a future she
hopes will include within the next five years an adult and child
day-care center run by parishioners.
It's a vision the Rev. McClendon said he never imagined when he
was leading the church.
"I am pleased to see it," he said. "It's a blessing we got this
far, and I reckon it's good."