A Brief History of the Church
In the early 1800’s, the Chickasaw and Cherokee Indians lived along the banks of the Wolf and Loosahatchie Rivers. There were no established roads at that time; only Indian trails. These trails crossed near the present location of Egypt Baptist Church.
Large property owners at the time were Wilson Sanderlin and James Freeman. They owned the land between what is now the National Cemetery and the Loosahatchie River. After the ratification of a treaty with the Indians in early 1818, Sanderlin and Freeman sold property to incoming settlers. These settlers, being Christians decided to band together and worship the Lord corporately. At first, they met in cabins. In 1819, they decided to erect a house of worship.
The first building was erected by the settlers using logs from near this location. Other materials were brought in by oxen teams over the Cherokee Indian Trail. Half logs were used as the first pews and it had a simple hard dirt floor. The church became known and called “Egypt” Baptist church. Because of a drought that year, no one in the area was able to raise corn except in the region between the Wolf and Loosahatchie Rivers. The name “Egypt” means “Land of Plenty.”
Fire destroyed the original building in 1846. It was rebuilt that same year and the structure currently remains and forms a part of our current Fellowship Hall.
At the close of the War Between the States, the church membership was recorded at 82, (37 black; 45 white). A testimony even then of the openness and inclusion of all people to God’s church.
The church also has an historic cemetery. There remain stones from the mid to late 19th century as well as many from the early 20thcentury. In the flu and yellow fever epidemic of 1918, the city of Memphis asked to bury some of the victims in the cemetery. Though the exact location has been lost over time, there is a mass grave of about thirty people.
In 1948, just over one-hundred years after the rebuilding of the burned down building, a new worship auditorium was added. A remarkable feat of engineering was performed; the old worship building was raised up and placed on logs. It was then drawn by mules, turned and repositioned ninety degrees to make way for the new building. In 1950 another building was added and an Educational wing was yet added in 1954. These all remain.
In 1968 the church purchased thirteen additional acres of land on Raleigh-Millington Rd. adjacent to the back of their existing land. In 1970 the church built a new worship and education facility and additional educational space was added in 1975.
Through the years, Egypt Baptist has also been instrumental in establishing other churches in the Memphis and surrounding areas. In the early 1900’s Egypt Baptist transferred its membership from the Big Hatchie Association located in Covington, TN to become a charter member church of the Shelby Baptist Association (later renamed The Mid-South Baptist Association).
The church currently partners with other local churches in performing ministry to the community through food pantries and clothing ministries.
