Above:  A Photograph from 1964 or 1965; Taken at Summerville, Georgia

Image Courtesy of Randolph Fleming Taylor

Top Row, Left to Right:

Randolph Fleming Taylor, my uncle;

George Dickey “Dick” Barrett (1910-1989), my grandmother’s brother; and

David Rogers (John Whisnant’s son-in-law) of Rome.

Front Row, Left to Right:

John D. Taylor, III, my father;

Richard “Dick” Fox Barrett (died November 5, 2009), my father’s cousin;

John Whisnant, brother-in-law of John D. Taylor, Jr., my grandfather;

Cousin Eugene “Gene” Taylor; and

two sons of David Rogers, one also named David.

Above:  The Right Reverend Robert C. Wright, Bishop of Atlanta, at Grace Episcopal Church, Gainesville, Georgia, April 21, 2013

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

(https://plus.google.com/photos/114749828757741527421/albums/5869459095653675153/5869627469484221394?pid=5869627469484221394&oid=114749828757741527421)

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Luke 22, 19-20

1.  The Jewish Passover [is] its predecessor and background and was supplanted by it.

2.  So Christ instituted this supper to commemorate his death and passion.  “This do in remembrance of me.”  It is well [that] we remember what he has suffered for us.

(1)  The bread signifies that he is the Bread of Life.  His body given for us.

(2)  The wine denotes that his shed blood brings salvation from sin.  “Ye are not redeemed by corruptible things as silver and gold…but by the precious blood of Jesus.

3.  It is a sign of a work done for us by his death & sign of our allegiance to him.

It is a seal of his covenant mercies to us.

4.  Who should take it?  All Christians.  If I am His child then I certainly have a child’s right at my Father’s table.  The Bible places no other barriers around it.  “But let a man prove (test; prove) himself, & so let him eat of the bread & drink of the cup” as a result of his own decision and not of another’s decision (1 Cor. 11, 28).

GEORGE WASHINGTON BARRETT

Above:  George Washington Barrett

An image taped inside a family history book

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From the Journal of the North Georgia Conference of The Methodist Church, 1956, pages 110 and 111

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GEORGE W. BARRETT

The Reverend George W. Barrett was born September 3, 1873, and left us for his heavenly home June 12, 1956.  He was the son of William Wesley and Sarah Jane Winburn Barrett.  He was graduated from Young Harris College in 1899.

On January 17, 1900, he was happily married to Miss Nellie S. Fox.  He is survived by his wife and following children:  George Dickey, Lucy S., Nellie F. (Mrs. John D. Taylor), and Margaret E.  Another daughter, Sarah C., passed away June 12, 1954.  His home was one of culture and refinement whose spiritual atmosphere reflected the presence of the Master who was the real head of the house.

Brother Barrett joined the North Georgia Conference in 1899.  He was ordained deacon in 1899 by Bishop Hendrix and elder in 1903 by Bishop Key.  His appointments were as follows:  Alpharetta; Blue Ridge; Palmetto; Douglasville; Cornelia; Tate; Acworth; Union Point; Asbury, Augusta; Lithonia; Gray; Tignall; St. Paul, Gainesville; Winder; St. Luke, Augusta; Commerce; Rockmart; Second Avenue, Rome; Underwood, Atlanta, from which he retired in 1945.

He was at the table of the Secretary of the Conference for twenty-eight years–for twenty-one years the Secretary of the Conference, and editor of the Conference Journal.  He was a natural born Secretary.  In correspondence with the Publishing House as Editor of the Journal he was often addressed as “the model Secretary.”  In District Conferences or other church meetings, where a secretary was needed, they usually thought of Brother Barrett, if he were present, and elected him.

George W. Barrett was not only a gentleman but a gentle man.  Smoking flax he would not quench and the bruised reed would not be further damaged in his hands.  The ugly habit of self-assertion and self-seeking was not in his make-up.  He walked in deep humility with his Lord, content to feel that always the Master was at hand.

Brother Barrett was a sound Gospel preacher.  His sermons were not cluttered up with trivialities but dealt with the profound truths of the Holy Word.  He followed in the traditions of the fathers and was little moved by modern trends.  His people loved and trusted him.  They believed that in the midst of pretense and sham here, indeed, was a real man of God.  His life was an orderly one.  He was meticulous in his attention to details.  There was method in all that he did.  He was punctual in his appointments and prompt in his obligations.  He had strong convictions and was never ashamed or afraid to declare them.

For more than eighty-two years Brother George W. Barrett had lived among us, walking in the straight and narrow way, his face always toward the morning.  At last the weary feet could carry him no farther.  The gentle knight laid down his shining sword.  The mantle of his noble calling fell from his shoulders unsoiled.  His nerveless hands could no longer hold the working tools of his loved employ.  So he left us–the earth better for his coming, heaven richer for his going–to be at home with God.

WALLACE ROGERS

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EDITOR’S COMMENT:

It is, I admit, an overwritten obituary in places, but that is excusable.  If one cannot become flowery in an obituary, where can one do so?

I do recognize one glaring omission:  There is no mention of his firstborn son, Randolph Winburn Barrett (1905-?), who disappeared in the 1930s.  I propose no single reason for this, and I hope that nobody thinks I am.  In fact, I suspect that there are at least two reasons for this and almost everything else in the realm of the human race.  I do know that, for a set of reasons, Randolph became a topic to avoid in the household, so I am not surprised that he is absent here.  Maybe the primary reason was grief.  I have no evidence to suggest otherwise, so I extend the benefit of the doubt.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 20, 2013 COMMON ERA

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Above:  Two Yoked Oxen, Between 1860 and 1900

Image Source = Library of Congress

(http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2006689565/)

Reproduction Number = LC-USZ62-136943

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Matt. 11, 28-30

1.  A gracious Saviour & Deliverer.  His attitude toward all men is one of solicitude, inviting the world to come to Him.  As the Good Shepherd he is careful for the sheep.  What a lovely attitude is his.

2.  Man is in great straights.  He labors and is burdened with many sins, condemnation, fear, rebukes of conscience, bitter slavery to sin’s power.  But for the cross of Christ sin’s burdens would break the heart of this old world.

Christians have many temptations and struggles against sin & need divine assistance.  He dare not walk alone.

3.  Jesus invites all such to come to him.  He urges the sinner to exchange the heavy yoke of sin for the lighter one He delights to give.  There is something better than the sinner’s lot.  “My yoke is easy.”  He gives rest to the weary soul.

His is an easy yoke, for it is personally adapted to one.  He helps bear it, and love makes it easy.  We delight to do His will.

4.  He is meek–humble–and lowly.  So we humble ourselves as he did–“as his Lord” is enough for the servant.

Will you then come to him for rest and accept the easy yoke?  He invites you; come now.

GEORGE WASHINGTON BARRETT

Above:  George Washington Barrett

An image taped inside a family history book

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I have derived most information from Journals of the North Georgia Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, (through 1938) and of The Methodist Church (1939 to 1945 and 1956).  I have also drawn information from George Washington Barrett’s small book, Descendants of John Barrett and William Winburn (Decatur, Georgia:  Banner Press, Emory University, 1949).  And I have added my own knowledge from other sources.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 20, 2013 COMMON ERA

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Some Preliminaries:

Most pastoral moves occurred in November.  The North Georgia Conference made the transition to Summer moves after George Washington Barrett retired.

The Methodist Episcopal Church, South (1845-1939) reunited with its parent, the Methodist Episcopal Church (1784-1939), and a sibling, the Methodist Protestant Church (1828-1939) to form The Methodist Church (1939-1968).

The Methodist Church (1939-1968) joined with its relative, the Evangelical United Brethren Church (1946-1968), to create The United Methodist Church.

I recommend Google Street View as a wonderful way to get good images of some of these church buildings.

The Conference my great-grandfather as a troubleshooter frequently, hence many short pastorates.   Often he had only a few days’ notice before a move.

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1894

Licensed to preach on November 15

1895-1899

Student, Young Harris College, December 1, 1895-May 22, 1899

1899

Admitted to the North Georgia Conference, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South

Ordained Deacon by Bishop Eugene R. Hendrix, D.D., L.L.D.

1899-1902

Pastor, the Alpharetta Circuit (five churches)

Supply Pastor, starting July-November 1899, filling in for the pastor, who was ill

1900

Married Nellie Seguin Fox on January 17

1902-1904

Pastor, Blue Ridge Church

1903

Ordained Elder by Bishop Joseph Staunton Key

1904-1906

Pastor, Palmetto Circuit (five churches)

1905

Firstborn son, Randolph Winburn Barrett, born

1906-1908

Pastor, Douglasville Circuit (two churches)

1908

Second child, Sarah Claiborne Barrett, born

1908-1910

Pastor, Cornelia-Demorest Circuit (two churches)

A few years ago, when I taught some courses at the Demorest campus of Piedmont College, I noticed a certain building across the street.  The Demorest Womens’ Club house looked like an old church.   That is because it used to be one.  It was the home of the Demorest congregation of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MECS).  Demorest also had a congregation of the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC).  The two Demorest congregations merged in 1939, when their denominations did, moving into the stately MEC building.  That building, unfortunately, has gone the way of all flesh.  In the late 1940s, however, the Methodist and Congregationalist churches of Demorest merged, forming the Demorest Methodist Congregationalist Federated Church (currently a United Church of Christ and United Methodist Church affiliate), in the home of the former Congregational Church, just up the hill and behind the old MECS church.  The bell in the yard of the Federated Church is from the former MEC structure.

So, when I look at the clubhouse of the Demorest Womens’ Club, I see a building in which my great-grandfather preached.

1910

Third child, George Dickey Barrett, born

1910-1911

Pastor, Tate-Nelson Circuit, Marietta District (two churches)

1910-1912

An Assistant Statistician of the North Georgia Conference

1911-1913

Pastor, Acworth Circuit (four churches)

1912

Fourth child, Lucy Seguin Barrett, born

1912-1917

Statistician of the North Georgia Conference

1913-1914

Pastor, Union Point Circuit (four churches)

1914-1916

Pastor, Asbury Circuit, Augusta (two churches)

1915

Fifth child, Nell Fox Barrett, my grandmother, born on February 2

1916-1917

Pastor, Lithonia Circuit (three churches)

1917-1919

Pastor, Gray Circuit (three churches)

1918

Sixth child, Margaret Elizabeth Barrett, born

1918-1924

An Assistant Secretary of the North Georgia Conference

1919-1922

Pastor, Tignall/Broad River Circuit (two churches)

1922-1925

Pastor, St. Paul Church, Gainesville, Georgia

1924-1944

Secretary of the North Georgia Conference

1925-1927

Pastor, First Church, Winder

1927-1944

Editor of the Conference Journal

1927-1929

Pastor, St. Luke Church, Augusta

1929-1931

Pastor, Commerce Circuit (two churches)

1931-1935

Pastor, First Church, Rockmart

George Dickey Barrett (George’s son) made new carved oak furniture–an altar rail, a lectern, pulpit chairs, the communion table, and choir panels for the church in 1932.  He donated his time and labor, but the church had to hold fundraisers to finance the purchase of materials.  The church used this furniture until 1954.  Sources = http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=360&dat=19831109&id=NogxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Oz4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=2676,2069657 and family accounts

1935-1937

Pastor, Second Avenue Church, Rome

1937-1945

Pastor, Underwood Memorial Church, Atlanta

1943-1956

Resided at 866 Euclid Road, NE., Atlanta, in a house his wife, Nellie Sequin Fox Barrett, inherited

1945

Retired

1956

Died on June 12

Above:  Jesus in the Home of Mary and Martha, by Jacopo Tintoretto

(Image in the public domain)

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Luke 10, 42

Martha was domestic & must have undertaken more than an ordinary meal.  Mary quite forgot other matters sitting at the feet of Jesus.

1.  One thing is needful–compared to it all else is insignificant.

(a)  Man is a soul that will abide forever.  It is of first importance.  Religion is man’s chief concern.

(b)  It is man’s temptation to become so engrossed in other matters as to neglect his soul.  Pity he yields!  No one ought to become so busy that he has not time for daily meditation and prayer.

2.  It is all the result of choice.  God delegates this sovereign right to every man.  It adds dignity and happiness to man.

When this choice is made all other questions take their proper place.

3.  There are rich results that flow if one chooses that good part.  Surely pardon, peace, and constant fellowship with Christ & heaven at last are all the heart could wish.

Let everyone attend to the one essential thing–choose Jesus first.

GEORGE WASHINGTON BARRETT

Above:  The Parsonage of Winder Methodist Episcopal Church, South, Winder, Georgia

Scan of a photograph reproduced in C. Fred Ingram, ed., Beadland to Barrow:  A History of Barrow County, Georgia, from the Earliest Times to the Present (Atlanta, GA:  Cherokee Publishing Company, 1983), page 265

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George Washington Barrett (1873-1956), my great-grandfather, served as the pastor of Winder Methodist Episcopal Church, South, from November 1925 to November 1927.  Thus he, his wife, Nellie Sequin Fox Barrett (1876-1958). and four or five of their six children lived in this parsonage for two years.  Randolph Winburn Barrett (1905-?) had left the nest in 1922, at Tignall (https://taylorfamilypoems.wordpress.com/2013/08/11/a-mothers-prayer/).  Sarah Claiborne Barrett (1908-1954) might have left the next before November 1925, but I know that the four youngest children were part of the household at the time of the 1930 Census.   So they would have been part of the household in 1925-1927.  They were:

• George Dickey Barrett (1910-1989);
• Lucy Seguin Barrett (1912-2001);
• Nell Fox Barrett, my grandmother (1915-2001); and
• Margaret Elizabeth Barrett (1918-2007).

Scan of a photograph reproduced in C. Fred Ingram, ed., Beadland to Barrow:  A History of Barrow County, Georgia, from the Earliest Times to the Present (Atlanta, GA:  Cherokee Publishing Company, 1983), page 279

The brick structure of the church, erected in 1904, looked like this until the early 1920s, when renovation occurred.  The building had its new front doors, front porch, and front steps when my great-grandfather and his family arrived.  The parsonage was on the right, behind the church building.

Above:  The former home of First United Methodist Church, Winder, Georgia, Circa 2010

Image from the former website of the Sanctuary of the Holy Spirit, Winder, Georgia

The First Methodist Church relocated to a new plot of land in 1964.  When I found the old building in 2010, the Sanctuary of the Holy Spirit, an independent congregation, had occupied the building and undertaken the work of restoring it.  Alas, a fire resulting from a lightning strike destroyed the structure last Summer.

When I compare the older and more recent church photographs and recall what I saw when walking the ground, I notice that the old house on the left in the older photograph was still there in 2012 and and that the old parsonage was not.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 20, 2013 COMMON ERA

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A Related Post:

https://taylorfamilypoems.wordpress.com/2012/07/28/former-home-of-first-methodist-church-winder-georgia/

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