Phillips Mills Baptist Church

On June 10th, 1785, 16 members met in a mill on this site owned by Joel Phillips, a Revolutionary soldier, and organized Phillips Mills Baptist Church. The Rev. Silas Mercer, leader of the group, became the first pastor of the church, and served in that capacity for 11 years. His son, Jesse Mercer, was received into the church on July 7, 1787, at the age of eighteen. Later he was ordained to the ministry in the old church, and followed his father as its pastor, serving this church for thirty-seven years. The present edifice is the second to be built on the site, which was donated to the church by Joel Phillips. Since its organization, many important conferences have been held in Phillips Mills Church, and young men whose names are now famous in the ministry have preached their first sermons here.