"I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ."

Philippians 1:6

Before...

After!

(Click for a panoramic view.)

God has guided our congregation for many years. Standing on this history, the Holy Spirit is doing a new thing among us right now. It is an exciting time to be at Oak Mountain Presbyterian Church!

The first building on our site was a one-room schoolhouse, which Norman Rockwell visited to paint "Old Country School," above. Several of our members actually stood as models for this painting - though they aren't children anymore! Click on the painting for their recent photos.

In November 1946, Rev. Richard Flynn at the Carrollton Presbyterian Church organized a Sunday School program at the school. Two years later, Mr. John Martin donated five acres of land, and on May 21, 1949, construction began on Oak Mountain Chapel. It was considered a mission chapel, a whole three miles from downtown Carrollton.

Constructing the chapel required architectural plans. The church held a contest among Georgia Tech students, and the plans of Mr. Robert Browerd were accepted. Like the plans, construction was done with volunteer labor from the community and from members of the Society of Friends (Quakers), and with donated materials and funds. When finished, the chapel had a major technological advance - indoor plumbing! - which the students used. In time, the schoolhouse was no longer used, but the chapel continued with Sunday School and worship services.

On February 6, 1983, the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta constituted Oak Mountain Presbyterian Church as a self-governing congregation, electing five elders. The congregation called Rev. Robert G. Barron as a part-time minister. Between then and May 2003, the congregation was served by part-time ministers and seminary students.

In the past few years, we have had a lot of changes to celebrate:

• We have moved to a slightly "blended" worship style, incorporating some contemporary music into our traditional service, and utilizing visual images.  
• We have started a children's choir, which has sung both in our worship and in the community.  
• We have started two new ministries, Safe Havens and Room for a Child, and helped build two houses with Habitat for Humanity.
• We have also added dinner to our Wednesday evening program, which has more than doubled the attendance.  
• We have started the "cookie patrol," welcoming new visitors with cookies to invite them to return.  
• We've created this website.  
• God has blessed our efforts by more than doubling our membership, and counting!

God is not done with us yet. God has sustained us through all this time - even without stable pastoral leadership. We believe the best years for Oak Mountain Presbyterian Church are yet to come, as we try to discern the Holy Spirit's calling to be God's loving people, sharing the light of Christ on the mountain and beyond!

Can you guess which children in the painting these adults are?

Scroll down for the answer...