During the early 1800’s “Cowee”, or to the Cherokee Indians in the area, “place of the deer clan”, was a beautiful valley with many settlers in the area ready for a community church. Reverend Humphrey Posey, who had served as a Baptist missionary to the Cherokee Indians, came to the Cowee Valley in 1828 and found the area fertile for God’s work. Reverend Posey and Stephen White met with a group of residents who were members of Franklin Baptist Church and established Cowee Baptist Church. The first meetings were held in the Caler School House at the fork of Caler and Cowee Creeks.

Cowee Baptist Church had fifteen charter members who “having first gave themselves up to the Lord and to one another” constituted the church on March 15, 1828, making it the second Baptist Church in Macon County. Reverend Humphrey Posey was called the first minister of Cowee Baptist.

Membership of the church grew and the need for a meeting house was realized. A committee chose and purchased property near the present church location to build a log structure in 1830. A board structure in 1868.

The board building was moved across the road in 1870 to a site near the present church cemetery. The building has changed many times since the first log structure but the church has remained a solid rock for the Cowee community. Structures come and go; however, the mission of Cowee Baptist remains steadfast. Cowee Baptist Church offers a place to worship and grow in service to our Lord.

Just after Cowee Baptist was established, the church minutes record, “Celse, a black woman belonging to George Russel” joined the church’s membership – a progressive mark of Christian inclusivity for the time. Today, Cowee Baptist welcomes all who desire Christian fellowship to unite with us.

Cowee’s humble beginning offered services once a month. The church survived its first one hundred years offering only one service each month. Cowee Baptist hired its first full time minister, Reverend Tommy Gale, in 1952.

Today Cowee’s doors are open for various opportunities of service and worship during the week and provide morning and evening services on Sunday. Cowee Baptist Church has a full time minister, Reverend David Powell and additional staff.

Cowee’s earliest members established a faith-based church that believed its mission was to worship, evangelize, provide education through biblical studies and minister through local, state and foreign missions. Today Cowee Baptist provides many opportunities for education service and missions.

Cowee Baptist Church has served its community, state, nation and world for 180 years. Reverend Humphrey Posey and Stephen White had a vision in 1828 to establish a fellowship in an area “fertile for cultivation.” Today, one can stand in the church fellowship hall, view the beautiful Cowee Valley and realize the dream of 1828 is still being fulfilled by the growing church in the Cowee Valley.