A brief history of Barren County: Mt. Tabor Baptist Church

By GAGE WILSON
Glasgow News 1

The first churches constituted in Kentucky were sparsely populated with most struggling to see attendance in the double digits. While the 1700s saw the state population increasing to more than 20,000, churches were largely still in their infancy. Missionary labors and earnest preaching seemed ineffective in the way of quickening spirituality. Membership in churches experienced a revival in 1785 ,which drew the Baptist churches of that State into closer union. This union was unique as no comparable religious community had anything similar, with church leaders and elders coming together to reignite faith in their respective communities.

One of those leaders, Alexander Davidson III, started the oldest church in what had just become Barren County. Davidson was the first pastor of Mount Tabor church, and considered the first preacher that settled between Green and Barren rivers. He was active in gathering the first churches in the region, before any other preacher settled there, as well as afterwards. His contributions were not limited to matters of faith but extended to government, as he represented Warren County in the convention that formed the second constitution of Kentucky in 1799.

Davidson could not accomplish a revival of faith alone. Carter Tarrant had also helped in the organization of the new church and was later called to the pastoral care of Mt. Tabor. As early as 1796, he had been a member of the Tates Creek Association (the first United Baptist Association in Kentucky) when they appointed members of the clergy “to visit the destitute brethren on Green River with their ministerial labor “.

When Mt. Tabor was finally organized, the membership consisted of seven residents. Through the works of the Baptist communities leadership, by 1800 membership exploded to 91. The building the church operated out of was known as the Beaver Creek Meeting House, two miles south of what would become Happy Valley Road.

The church found its home in 1880 moving to its current location at 814 Dripping Springs Rd. after being renovated in 1969 to add bathrooms and Sunday school classrooms. The church has remained to service more than 200 members

“We are blessed to be able to be here for Barren County, and to see our own 225th anniversary,” said Wanda Kinslow, Mt. Tabor’s clerk. “I’ve been a member since 1963 and my husband has been a member since 1952.”

Mt. Tabor maintains a diverse group. “The best part of, and why my family has stayed, is because of the multiple generations our congregation represents,” said Jonita Woodcock, a member of the church since around 2018.”You’re not going to find that in every church, newborns to 94-year olds, we really have something for everyone.”

Mt. Tabor is currently planning a homecoming event on Nov. 5, involving singing and a potluck.

Mt. Tabor will be setting up a booth at the Barren County Quasquibicentennial celebration, which is this week, as no other church in the area shares the history of Barren County so closely.