The church you see above, Fowlstown Methodist, was built in 1887 and served the small farming community for decades until holding its last service in 1962. Like many rural congregations, its numbers dwindled over time. But unlike most, this one has a happy ending. Today, Fowlstown Methodist has been reborn as The Church on the Farm, a wedding chapel and event venue on the family farm of Mr. J.B. Swicord. The Swicord family lived next door to the church for generations, and Mr. Swicord grew up attending services there. He remembers being sent to start the fire on winter mornings or to open the windows in summer before worship.

When the church was put up for sale in 1967, he purchased it—not knowing exactly what he’d do with it, simply to keep it in the family and the community. Years later, he and his grandson moved it to its present location and restored it with care, giving the building a second life in service once again.

The earliest records indicate that a Methodist church existed in the nearby Greenshade community cemetery as early as 1855. Given earlier burials on the site, it’s likely that an even earlier structure, perhaps a log church or brush arbor, stood there. Greenshade was also home to the Baptist Greenshade Tabernacle from 1858 to 1896. In 1887, the Greenshade Methodist Episcopal Church was sold, and the congregation split between the newly built Fowlstown Methodist and Faceville Methodist. While Faceville’s congregation is still active today, Fowlstown’s services ended in 1962. The Greenshade cemetery remains in use, holding the graves of many of Georgia’s early pioneers.

Fowlstown and Decatur County hold an important place in Georgia’s history. The first white settlers arrived in the early 19th century following the Creek Indian Treaty of 1814, which forced the Lower Creeks to cede 23 million acres in South Georgia and Alabama. Decatur County was created on December 8, 1823, and Fowlstown lies near the site of the first battle of the First Seminole War in November 1817. The initial shots were fired at the Creek village of Fowltown, then located about five miles from where the church stands today. Andrew Jackson—fresh from his victory at New Orleans—was sent to nearby Fort Scott, and soon after, he invaded Spanish Florida to end the conflict. Fort Scott, positioned on the Flint River, remained a key military post due to its proximity to Spanish territory.

Today, thanks to the Swicord family’s stewardship, the story of Fowlstown Methodist is not one of loss but of revival—a rural church continuing to gather people together more than a century after it was built.