In Appreciation to our 19 charter members—

Reverend Haskell Lee, Helen Lee, Ethelda Burnside, Jim Burnside, Curtis Burton, Faye Burton, Pasty Burton, Jessie Busha, Jesse Busha, Drucilla Carver, Fred Carver, Viola Carver, Annie Cobb, Lewis Cobb, Vera Cobb, Bethie Hall, Gloria Hall, Woodie Hall, Lorene Rholetter

The Genesis of Calvary Church of God

Written by:  Woodie Hall

I grew up in the Brasstown community of Oconee County aside US highway 76 and about nine miles from Westminster, SC.  The house we lived in was constructed by my grandfather (the house is presently occupied by Carol Hall, my niece).  As a young lad my mother, Bethie Hall, would tell us stories about her growing up in the Brasstown community and especially things that happened in the home we lived in.

In the early thirties my mother and her family would leave the house in the Brasstown community and thereafter in the late in the late thirties a traveling evangelist gained use of the house to hold revival meetings.  The reason he needed this building was that he was preaching a new message, one that had not been shared in the northwestern part of SC before, a message unaccepted by the present churches in the area (Baptist for the most part) “Baptism in the Holy Spirit evidenced by speaking in tongues.”

The meetings that had been held in our home had a profound effect upon the communities of Brasstown, Holly Springs and surrounding communities.  After receiving this “baptism with fire” some people were disowned by their families, others would lead their family members into this new experience.  My grandfather was a deacon in one of the local Baptist churches and after hearing my mother had received this new experience stated, “If my daughter says its real then I believe it and I

want it also.”  Mr. Jesse Busha one of Calvary Church of God’s charter members was also a receiver of this “baptism with fire” in the house in Brasstown.  Mr. Busha was so excited about what God had accomplished in his life that he painted across the front of his dad’s barn “Holiness unto the Lord.”  Mr. Busha would also take a bass drum and doing a military style march go up and down the road in Holly Springs beating the drum and shouting  “Holiness unto the Lord”, and of course the local Baptist brothers and sisters thought this to be offensive.

Many were baptized in the Holy Ghost in the meetings held in Brasstown and since the believers were not welcomed in the local churches any longer a church was established in the Holly Springs community.  The new congregation would affiliate with the Pentecostal Fire-Baptized Holiness Church

headquartered in Anderson, SC.  This group would continue to reach out and bring others into their fellowship.

In mid 1950 a tall skinny young man with a big smile from Madison, SC came to Rider Mountain Pentecostal Fire-Baptized Holiness Church (RMPFHC), to become the pastor.  He was the Reverend Haskell Lee.  The RMPFHC congregation was small, perhaps 50 people, and after the arrival of Brother Lee the church started growing.  The number of people attending RMPFHC soon pressed the capacity of the little building and a new church would be built adjacent to the small sanctuary.

After the new RMPFHC building was constructed, divisions enter into the congregation and soon the church would separate.  Brother Lee and approximately fifty members of the congregation, to include my family would begin having church in the basement of Mr. Glenn Burton’s home in the Five Forks community.

Having church in a basement was ok for a while but soon people started dropping out of the group and attending other churches.  Standing with Brother Lee, at the time, was a number of people strong in the faith.  Brother Lee and these believers decided to do some due diligence on different Pentecostal organizations of whom the fellowship might affiliate with and start anew.  After much fasting and prayer it was agreed upon by the fellowship to join the organization of the Church of God with headquarters in Cleveland, TN.

We now had an organization behind us but no land or building where we could meet and hold services.  Perhaps a big deciding factor in affiliating with the Church of God was that they would provide a portable church we could use until we were able to construct a permanent building.  Now this was all wonderful except we did not have any land and was not sure where we wanted to locate our church.  The overall feeling of the believers was that the new church should be located somewhere on US highway 76 going out of Westminster toward Clayton, GA.

I cannot recall who suggested approaching the owner of the property located at the fork of US highway 76 and Cobb Bridge Road; however, after contact was made the owners quickly agreed to sell the land to Brother Lee and the fellowship.

I recall the day we went to the Church of God Home for Children in Mauldin, SC to get the portable church that would become the sanctuary for the Calvary Church of God believers.  I, Brother Lee, Brother Jesse Busha, and a Brother from Walhalla # 2 Church of God with a big truck made the

journey to Mauldin on a cool drizzling raining day.  The building was prefabricated in sections made up of Masonite sheeting with two by fours for the supporting frame.  We had no loading equipment except our hands and I can still recall the water running down my arms as we would lift and push the big sections upon the truck.

February 19, 1960 was an awesome day for the fellowship of believers that had left Rider Mountain Pentecostal Fire-Baptized Holiness Church months earlier.  This is the date the fellowship of believers was united with the Church of God with headquarters in Cleveland, TN.  We were so happy to be members of an organization and also have a place to worship.

The early days of Calvary Church of God were challenging.  The portable tabernacle had dirt floors with lumber shavings spread on top.  Now when the people started dancing in the spirit the dust did fly.  No central air of heat, just a big stove near the front of the building no water or indoor plumbing.

When the church was organized with nineteen members we had about the same number of non-members attending Calvary.  The church was unable to support Brother Lee full time so he maintained a job in Toccoa, GA.  He would work at his full time job and then come work the church ministry in the evenings.  We began to grow and needed more room but did not have the funds to expand at the time.

My mother, Bethie Hall, was a prayer warrior.  Living out in the country she had a milk cow that needed her attention each morning.  So each day she would go to the barn and milk and feed her cow

and before she left the barn she would have a time of prayer.  My mother loved her church family and she believed in the ministry of Brother Haskell Lee.  Every day when she prayed she would ask God to bless Brother Lee and the fellowship.  She especially would ask God each and every day to help Calvary build a permanent building for worship.  While praying one morning the Lord gave her a vision that she could not understand at the time.  In her vision she was traveling from Westminster back to Brasstown and was descending down Ramsey Creek Hill and in front of her in the fork of US highway 76 and the Cobb Bridge Road she saw a beautiful church with a tall steeple.  At this particular time the fellowship had very few resources and building a church would be difficult but that did not keep her from sharing her vision.

Brother Lee was a visionary, also.  During the spring of 1960 he had some time off from this job and he asked the congregation if anyone could help him do some clearing of the ground around the church.  I was my mother’s stand-in when it was not possible for her to do something for the church.  So I was sent to assist Brother Lee as needed to clear brush from around the church.  It was a nice day to work outside and we worked steady and hard completing the initial work by late morning.  As we were looking over the land down toward the road with standing trees so thick you could hardly see US highway 76 Brother Lee said, “Let’s see if we can clear an opening all the way down to the highway.”  Well five hours later we had cleared all of the land down to the road with just axes; the God of Samson was with us.  In only a few days a brother in the church, MJ Davis, arranged for the land to be graded for the new Calvary Church building and my mother’s vision was beginning to be fulfilled.  The construction of a permanent building for Calvary Church of God for the most part was accomplished by Brother Lee with an army of volunteers.  Calvary’s congregation at this time was small and donations from other sources were a necessary blessing.  Perhaps one of the most difficult decisions for the member during the construction of Calvary came in the fall of 1960.  The congregation did not want to spend another cold winter in the portable tabernacle and we were out of funds to complete the church building.  The decision before the congregation was, “do we borrow $5,000.00 to complete the building?”  Today we may laugh about this but $5,000.00 was a lot of money to a small congregation in 1960 as most members working at the time made less than a dollar an hour.  The congregation was bold and strong and they did borrow the $5,000.00 from the Bank of Westminster.

On January 1, 1961 my mother’s vision was fulfilled when the first service was held in the new church building in the fork of US HWY 76 and Cobb Bridge Road.