1909-2009
In 1909, a group of believers who met in a small house located near the “ABC Railroad Line” located in the Sugar Hill area of Union City, started out as a weekly prayer group, through God Blessings in 1911, established a formal church and named it Union Grove Baptist Church. The Reverend Walter Banks served as the first pastor. Blessed in growth, the young church relocated to Church Street, a location in the community of “Graves Alley” still in the Union City area.
The Board of Deacons coordinated this relocation; members consisted of Joe Watkins, E. Foster, Joe Howard, Sr., Will Burton, Robert Daniel, Dan Strozier, Ernest Roberts, Buck Mayes, “Punk” Cook, William Daniel, Bob Talley, Al Wilkerson, North Brown, and Jim Stanley. This was a major accomplishment for the church; the new structure was a large one room, whitewashed log building. Additional transitions took place during the following years; however, Union Grove is still located on the same plot of land one hundred year later.
In 1988, the church submitted an application to the State of Georgia to become a chartered non-profit organization. The law that governs the establishment of non-profit organizations states that no two separate organizations may share the same name. The State Governing Board assigned the name Union Grove Baptist Church to an earlier applicant; therefore, the church elected to modify the name of this church to Union Grove Baptist Church of Union City, Inc. God has blessed this church during its walk with a succession of powerful and talented pastor.
The chronology is as follows:
1911-1912 Rev. Walter Banks served as the first Pastor
1912-1913 Rev. William Tucker served for one year
1914-1915 Rev. Walter Banks recalled, served until 1915. No records indicate the change in pastor.
1915-1918 Rev. Will Hill served as pastor
1918-1926 Rev. Covington served as pastor
1926-1959 Rev. T.A. Davis served as pastor until his death in 1959.
1959-1959 Rev. Edward Brown served as action pastor until Rev. T. W. Hobbs was called to serve
1959-1974 Rev. T.W. Hobbs served as pastor
1974-1985 Rev. R. Bryant served as pastor until 1985
1985-1990 Rev. W.L. Brown served as pastor
1990-2000 Rev. Michael Pace served as pastor
2000- currently Rev. John D. Menefee, Sr. is serving as pastor