God's hand of goodness and faithfulness has been clearly evident in the life of this ministry, located in the mountains of Western Maryland. We are grateful for the diligent recording by the men and women of our beginning years, as the Lord moved and established this place of worship we call Eckhart Baptist Church.
Prior to 1850, a family bearing the surname of Jennings migrated from England and settled at Eckhart Mines, MD. Mr. Jennings was a Roman Catholic, but his wife, Catherine had been converted after leaving England and had united with a Baptist church during a brief period spent in New York. Shortly after arriving in Eckhart, Catherine joined the First Baptist Church of Cumberland, MD.
In August of 1850, the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Cumberland, Reverend Benjamin Griffith, visited Catherine Jennings in Eckhart. With her persistence, Pastor Griffith preached in the basement of the Episcopal Church in Eckhart the next Thursday, September 5th. The room was packed. He preached from Psalm 84:11 - "For the Lord God is a sun and shield the Lord will give grace and glory, no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly."
Two weeks later, on September 19th, he preached in the local Methodist Church, and continued preaching there every night for two weeks. During this time, six individuals were saved and baptized.
On October 24, 1850, Pastor Griffith preached there once more. The following day ten individuals who professed Christ as Lord and Savior were baptized by immersion and met together to establish a local church. And so, on October 10, 1851, the newly established church was incorporated as the First Baptist Church of Eckhart Mines of Eckhart, MD. At the end of that first year, the church members numbered 31.
One-hundred-seventy plus years later, God continues to use this church located alongside the Old National Pike. To God be the Glory!