The History of Greater Jerusalem Baptist Church
101 County Line road, Richton MS 39476
WRITTEN BY:
Mother Louise Crawford
Little Jerusalem Baptist Church was built in the late 1920,s. After what was called the “Blodgett Mill” was closed down in 1927, people of this community were without a church. People would go from place to place to worship. Finally, Bro. Whitey Holmes decided to build a church. The people at that time had no jobs and no money. Somehow Whitey Holmes got a permit to cut logs from Tiger Creek. He and his nephew cut and hauled logs to the Ovett mill. There they cut the materials need in order to construct the church including the shingles for the roof.
The church was erected by the men of the community. Those dedicated men included: Mr. Whitey Holmes, Mr. Sid Coleman, Mr. Clarence Bethea, and Mr. Woodie Crawford. When the church was finished they selected Reverend Joe Day as pastor. Service was held each 3rd Sunday at 11:00 AM and 3:00PM.
The people were still without jobs and there existed no funds in order to compensate the man of God for his labor. The pastor was often paid with vegetables, sweet potatoes, peas, corn, and syrup. After the evening service had ended, one of the men would transport Reverend Day home because no one had a car. Reverend Day would often walk four miles from the Fox Community to Ovett, MS and five miles from Ovett to the church.
The second of the church was Pastor Fred Smith. Pastor Smith would travel by train from Laurel, MS. There was at that time a flag station at the crossroad for the railroad where he could flag the train.
Reverend L. E. Pierce was the third pastor of Little Jerusalem Baptist Church. After Reverend Pierce was elected as pastor the church began to experience growth. In 1945 we realized we needed a larger facility to accommodate the growing membership. The members of the church decided to construct a new building which is our present facility. At this time we still had no money. Each member pledged a certain amount of money for the construction on the building. They sent out three captains to collect money. The captains were Mrs. Mary Bethea, Mrs. Nettle Ratcliff, and Mrs. Rebecca Holmes. These three women were considered the best women the country. Each of them collected a large sum of money. We had fish fries, and spaghetti suppers. We collected enough money to build this church with cash. The church had four deacons, Mr. Oliver Robertson, and Mr. Joe Lee became deacons which gave the church a total of six deacons. The deacons and the pastor built the church with the help of a carpenter.
Reverend Fairley was the fourth pastor of the church. Reverend Fairley was a native of Hattiesburg, MS and served as pastor until his death.
Reverend C.D. McSwain was our fifth pastor and served for a long time. My husband, Booker T. Crawford became an ordained Deacon at this time.
Reverend Mike Wade was out sixth pastor and served for 35 years until his health failed.
Our seventh pastor was Reverend Terry Fairley. The deacons under his administration were Deacon Benny Crawford, Sr., Deacon Melvin Crawford, and Mr. Turpin Smith, Sr. The membership has been very busy working to improve this church. The Church at this time had new pews, and new piano, and central air and heat. We have come a long ways and still have a way to go.
Reverend Marvin Ward of Richton, MS was the eighth man of God to serve as pastor of Little Jerusalem and Reverend Leon Tilman was the ninth pastor. Under Pastor Tilman’s leadership, Brother larry Tatum was ordained as a deacon and currently serves.
In February of 2011 Bishop Kevin J. Hollingsworth was called as pastor of the church. Under his leadership the church has experienced enormous spiritual growth. His passion of teaching the word of God with simplicity and