Macon County was created in 1837 from portions of Houston and Marion counties and named for General Nathaniel Macon of North Carolina. Many of the first settlers to this new frontier also came from North Carolina, bringing their traditions and faith with them. The earliest county seat was at Lanier, where a Methodist congregation had formed by 1840 under the care of a circuit-riding preacher. But as railroads reshaped the landscape in the 1850s, Oglethorpe grew in importance and became the new county seat in 1856. The congregation at Lanier dwindled, and by 1858 its church was shuttered.

Sometime in the following decade, the building was moved to the nearby community of Pine Level, where it was reorganized in 1869 after the Civil War. From then on, it became a gathering place for faith and fellowship in the rural county. Life at Pine Level reflected the values of its community. In 1885, the Georgia General Assembly passed a law forbidding the sale or barter of alcohol within four miles of the church or its nearby academy—an indication of the congregation’s strong stance on temperance.

By 1931, Pine Level was part of the Oglethorpe Circuit, alongside Corinth, Ideal, and Oglethorpe churches, with Rev. W. E. Dennis as pastor. At the time, Pine Level counted about 75 members, continuing the legacy of the little church that had once been Lanier’s. Though records are scarce, Pine Level stands as a reminder of the shifting centers of community life in rural Georgia and the determination of its people to carry their faith through changing times.