BETTIS ACADEMY - Mount Canaan Baptist Church rejoiced last Sunday at the groundbreaking of a project that has been five years in the planning stages.

Land clearing has finally begun for a 100-car parking lot in front of the church and a youth center adjacent to the church with a game room, rest facilities, showers, a canteen and a gym.

The next project, said the pastor, Rev. George L. Brightharp, will be a new sanctuary.

This is planned for 2010 and 2011.
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"Mount Canaan has a strong commitment to nurturing and training youth,”" said Brightharp. “"We currently have a very good youth program. A van goes to Augusta every Sunday and picks up youth. This ministry is under the direction of Jessica Bing. We have a summer tutorial, FINE, Boys and Girls Club, Explorers, Boys and Girls Scouts and a garden club. These are in addition to the usual church organizations and programs.”"

The pastor said Mount Canaan is interested in serving the community so the new youth center will be available to the community, not just Mount Canaan members.

Sunday'’s groundbreaking ceremonies were led by the pastor who read from the 24th Psalm and asked God to bless the project.

Mount Canaan was founded in 1868 by the Rev. Alexander Bettis, known for the founding of Bettis Academy and Junior College in 1881. It was the first of 40 churches he is known to have established and the first church for blacks in Edgefield County.

The first meetings were under a brush arbor across Highway 25 west of the present site. Later a wood structure was built and used until 1961 when the present church sanctuary was constructed on the site east of the original church on Highway 25.

In the early 1970s, the educational annex was added. The church now owns approximately 35 acres of land along Highway 25.
The Rev. Bettis pastored the church for 27 years until his death in 1895. Brightharp has served the church for 30 years now, longer than any of the 10 past pastors.

A historical marker has been erected by the S.C. Department of Archives and History at Mount Canaan denoting its historical significance.

Sallie Cooks, Edgefield County School Board Chairman and member of Mount Canaan said, "“I am excited about our children here and for the children of the community. We have plans for tutoring and sports, help with after-school and summer programs. It is a wonderful moment. Our young people are our future."”