Mount Zion Baptist Church,

Wood County, West Virginia Wood County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 84,296, making it West Virginia's fifth-most populous county. Its county seat is Parkersburg. The county was formed in 1798 from the weste ...

was founded in 1815 in the community of Mineral Wells,

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

on Route 14. On May 15, 1815, Mrs. Elizabeth Kettle opened her home for the organization of this frontier

baptist church Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

. The church first called Rev. John Drake to an area then called Butcher Bend. A

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

, Rev. Drake came to the area on foot, carrying a

musket A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually d ...

and a

bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

. Later Rev. James McAbbey built the first church made of logs in 1819. Then in 1883 the present building was constructed. This church claims to be the mother church of at least seven other Baptist churches in the area.

References

Baptist churches in West Virginia Churches in Wood County, West Virginia {{US-church-stub