HISTORY OF ST. PAUL A.M.E. CHURCH

Canton, Georgia

 

St. Paul A.M.E. Church of Canton, Georgia started in 1897 with a group of members who were dedicated and committed to following Christ.  A list of those who labored to build the first church structure located at N. Crisler Street includes Bro. Henry Ware, Bro. Sherman Jefferson, Bro. Ed Atkins, Sis. Saffire Garrison, Sis. Eliza Scott, Sis. Lena Green and Sis. Liza Palmer.  These Christian soldiers worked tirelessly during the day, breaking only to go home for supper and then returned to work on the church building at night.  They were not as fortunate as we are today in many ways.  For instance, there were no


Old St. Paul AME

electric lights, so the ladies held the oil lanterns while the men hammered the nails.  They not only sacrificed their time, but they also sacrificed their hard earned money so that our church, today, would be a reality.

On April 6, 1976, the Lord blessed us to journey from our former structure on North Crisler Street to our present facility at 390 Crisler Street.  At the time Rev. R. L. Childs served as Pastor.  On that glorious morning, we marched from the old building to the new building singing and praising the Lord! On April 1, 2001 we made this march again commemorating our 25th Anniversary in our present sanctuary.  “We called this our Trip Down Memory Lane”.  We sang songs of praise from the place where the former structure stood to our present edifice. Rev. George Fields served as Pastor at the time.

 

In 1984, the Lord called one of our own, Rev. Frederick D. Forsh, into the preaching ministry.  Rev. Forsh preached his first sermon on the afternoon of Sunday, May 20, 1984.  In June of 1987, he was ordained as Deacon in Philadelphia, PA as part of the bicentennial celebration of the AME Church.  Rev. C.C. Saunders, our pastor at that time, traveled along with him to witness this grand event.  In 1990, Rev. Forsh was ordained as an Elder in our church and received his first charge to pastor the St. John AME Church of Ringgold, GA.  Presently he pastors Liberty Hill AME Church in Sharpsburg, GA.

 

Again, God called one of our own under the pastoral tutelage of Rev. George Fields.  Kito J. Johnson preached his first sermon on January 2, 1997 and in the summer of 1997 he united with St. Paul where he served as our Youth Minister.  In May of 1999, Rev. Johnson was ordained as a Deacon in the AME Church.  In January of 2001, Rev. & Mrs. Johnson left St. Paul to follow the call of the Lord and start a new church, Covenant Christian Center located in Holly Springs, GA.


New St. Paul AME

 

A list of our former pastors of St. Paul include, The Reverend(s) Peace, Grant, Brewster, Blake, Curtis, Few, Dunlap, Giles, Kelly, Lester, Worthy, Bradford, Childs, John W. Bass, George Brink, C.C. Saunders, Ashford Hunter, Walter Reynolds, Thomas Shaffer, George F. Fields, Thomas D. Ferguson, and Joseph E. Baker.

 

In May of 2006, our current Pastor, Rev. Lemora Dobbs, was appointed to St. Paul for the 2006-2007 Conference Year. In May 2007 Pastor Dobbs was reappointed to St. Paul for the current Conference Year. Pastor Lemora Dobbs and the First Man, Bro. Donald Dobbs, arrived at St. Paul with their running shoes on.  We are very thankful to God and Bishop DeVeaux for sending us a woman who is on fire for the Lord with a vision for this congregation.  Pastor Dobbs has made her presence known in the church and in the community.   Under her leadership, the following ministries have been initiated at St. Paul:  the DVD Ministry; the Divas of Destiny Women’s Ministry; an Outreach Ministry; and a Dance and Mime Ministry, Ladies of Christ and Kids for Christ.  Under Rev. Dobbs’ leadership, we also held our first Fun Walk and Community Health Fair; developed vision and mission statements; and initiated the AWANA Club program.

 

We, the members of St. Paul AME Church have been serving a most Gracious, Awesome and Merciful God for over 110 years.  At St. Paul, God has re-focused our attention on those who need the Lord who are outside the four walls and outside of our comfort zone.  We thank the Lord for what the Holy Spirit is doing at St. Paul; and we look forward to God’s continued activity and intervention in our future.  For all of this and more, we give praise, glory and honor to Almighty God!  In the AME tradition, we say “Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow!”