J. M. Carpenter

John Mark Carpenter served as interim pastor of the Washington church from 1997 to 1999.

Biography of John Mark Carpenter:

He was born October 16, 1929, in Toccoa, Georgia.


Truett-McConnell College’s First Class, 60 Years Later

By Erin Garner

Sixty years ago, in 1949, 28 young men and women were the first to graduate from Truett-McConnell College.

The students from the class of ’49 went on to become teachers, pastors and missionaries, among many other things. Many married other Truett-McConnell alumni. Some stayed in touch with each other throughout the years, and others didn’t

Last Wednesday, July 1, 10 of the class’s 23 living members gathered for a reunion, along with spouses, friends, Truett-McConnell staff and a few members of the class of 1950.

In the first years at Truett-McConnell, while the class of ’49 was attending, the school did not own any buildings. Students learned, ate and slept wherever possible. Despite the school’s limited facilities, Truett-McConnell became a place close to the hearts of the first graduating class.

“I really considered it an honor to be part of the first class,” Peggy Roper Phillips said. “I had a blast just about every minute.”

“You were the pioneer class. You came when there was nothing,” Truett-McConnell president Emir Caner told the alumni at the luncheon. “Whatever we have and are today is largely due to you. You are very much owners of Truett-McConnell College.”

Many stories told at the reunion took place in a building on the square in Cleveland, next to Nix Hardware, with a chapel on the main floor, classrooms in the basement and girls’ dorms on the top floor.

John Mark Carpenter and his wife, Betty Hawkins Carpenter, were the first couple to meet at Truett-McConnell and marry. Their ceremony took place in the downtown chapel.

Students, and even faculty, also lived in homes with local residents. At the reunion, the class reminisced about families feeding them cabbage every day and eating onion sandwiches at Ash’s Store.

Betty Hawkins and her roommate, Peggy Roper, even found themselves living [in the home of] a man suspected as the head of a car theft ring. When the school found out, the students quickly were moved to another home. Betty and Peggy also told stories of being in the school’s first women’s trio with Kate Wellborn, the only trained vocalist in the group. They would travel to churches with Truett president Rev. Clinton Cutts and provide special music for services.

“We told him we were tired of hearing the same sermon every week. He said if we got new songs, he would get a new sermon,” Betty said. They sang new songs, and he changed his sermon. Ethelene Dyer Jones sometimes accompanied the group as a speaker, asking people to donate to the college. “I could really wring the money out of people with my pitiful story,” she laughed.

For many of the alumni, a return to Truett was a return to the place they prepared for ministry or met their spouses. When Betty Telford Highsmith shared memories of her time at Truett-McConnell, she recalled a senior class trip to Skylake. “We lit candles and put them in little wooden boats [on the lake]. Some of the boats stayed close to the shore; some of them went far out in the water. Some of them [burned] out early, and some burned very brightly. I have thought about that many times over the years.”

The memory of the trip has been, for Highsmith, a metaphor for their class through the years.

Article reprinted with permission from White County News issue on July 8, 2009.

A. W. Huyck

Full house at Ebenezer Baptist Church honors Rev. Albert Huyck for service

The Huyck family stood on the steps at Ebenezer Baptist Church Sunday for this picture. All the last names are Huyck. On the front row are Thomas with his family (l-r) Holland, Elizabeth, Hannah Grace, and Tracey; (middle row) Suzie, Pam and Charles: (back row) Andrew, Kenneth, Eudora, and Albert.
As Rev. Albert W. Huyck Jr. retires from a nine-year pastorate at Ebenezer Baptist Church, nearly 150 members and guests filled the church sanctuary for his sermon Sunday, October 22, 2006. The pastor was recognized with a luncheon, a gift, and Pastor Emeritus status.

Rev. Huyck began his ministry at Ebenezer in November 1997, following 25 years as pastor of the First Baptist Church of Washington. Angie Strother, who was a member of the committee which recommended him as pastor, presented him an inscribed pewter serving tray from the congregation. She reviewed his transition from First Baptist and the growth of Ebenezer during his term.

On behalf of the deacons, Dr. Joe Harris presented the Pastor Emeritus certificate which recognized his distinctive service, reverence and loyalty.

James Smith is chairman of the deacons who have recently recommended Dr. Leonard Dupree of Thomson as interim pastor beginning November 5. He has agreed to serve.

Rev. Huyck will preach the last sermon of his term on October 29, which event he approached with his most recent sermon, "If I Had But One Sermon to Preach," and focused on John 3:16. His three sons and their families were in the congregation which included many friends from various times in his career.

A covered dish luncheon arranged by church members Pam and Newton Gunter followed the service.

Albert Warren Huyck, Jr. served as pastor of the Washington church from  June 1974 to  October 1997. During his pastorate Terry Blackmon was ordained to the ministry in 1975. In March 1977, the church voted to redecorate the sanctuary, including new carpet throughout. Also, the church celebrated its 150th anniversary that year. In June 1980, the church approved purchase of a building across the street for use primarily as a youth activities center. It was named The Ark and has become an important part of the church's total ministry. The church started a pre-kindergarten program in 1980 with Laurie Granade as teacher. In the decade of the 1980s there were 131 professions of faith, and the church gave a total of $422,365 to missions. In 1983 the church launched its largest building program to date. A Together-We-Build campaign had a goal of $400,000 and in the end approximately $500,000 to pay for renovation of the Nancy Mercer Annex and new construction to include a church library, rest rooms, an office suite, a kitchen, and a fellowship hall. The new fellowship hall was dedicated and named the Mary Callaway Burton Fellowship Hall. Mrs. Burton's portrait, painted by George Mandus, was hung in the church office in 1986. A new bus was purchased in June 1988 at a cost of $88,060. The church adopted a rotating system for all church committee members in 1989. A modern record of 559 persons attending Sunday School was set on October 29, 1989. In July 1991 the church approved purchase of land across the street from the church for parking and future

developement at a cost of $75,000. Under Mr. Huyck's leadership the church enjoyed one of its finest periods of varied ministries, united fellowship, and spiritual growth. He was instrumental in developing Penfield Christian Home into a part of the Georgia Baptist Convention. He has been chairman of trustees for Tift College and a director of the Alumni Association of Furman University. In 1971 he visited Bible lands and in 1980 he went on a preaching mission to Japan and the Republic of China.

Biography of Albert Warren Huyck, Jr.

Albert was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Warren Huyck, Sr., pastor of the First Baptist Church of Augusta. Albert attended ARC - Academy of Richmond County - in Augusta; Furman University in Greenville, SC; and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC. He was pastor of First Baptist Church of Royston, GA, and pastor of First Baptist Church of Swainsboro, GA, before coming to Washington in 1974. After leaving Washington his retirement was short lived and he became pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in the Aonia community nine miles east of Washington.

Full house at Ebenezer Baptist Church honors Rev. Albert Huyck for service

Rev. Huyck began his ministry at Ebenezer in November 1997, following 25 years as pastor of the First Baptist Church of Washington. Angie Strother, who was a member of the committee which recommended him as pastor, presented him an inscribed pewter serving tray from the congregation. She reviewed his transition from First Baptist and the growth of Ebenezer during his term.

On behalf of the deacons, Dr. Joe Harris presented the Pastor Emeritus certificate which recognized his distinctive service, reverence and loyalty.

James Smith is chairman of the deacons who have recently recommended Dr. Leonard Dupree of Thomson as interim pastor beginning November 5. He has agreed to serve.

Rev. Huyck will preach the last sermon of his term on October 29, 2006, which event he approached with his most recent sermon, "If I Had But One Sermon to Preach," and focused on John 3:16. His three sons and their families were in the congregation which included many friends from various times in his career.