It isn't often that you find a church named for Joppa. Well, you know from the Bible that Joppa was a seaport town (Joshua 19:46); Solomon's Temple was built from cedars floated by sea to Joppa ( II Chronicles 2:16); Jonah caught a ship there for his infamous voyage (Jonah 1:3), and a lady named Tabitha aka Dorcas was from Joppa (Acts 9:36-43--definitely read this story! Every church needs several members like Dorcas.)

But what do you know about OUR Joppa?

We aren't quite a seaport town but we aren't too far from the famous Suwannee River or the Gulf of Mexico.

Joppa Baptist Church was established in 1896 at a small country school called Red Hollow School. At the time, the church was called Pleasant Grove Baptist Church and her first pastor was George Fletcher. The church would move to its present location in 1915 and adopt the name "Joppa Baptist Church" on July 21, 1935. She went through a temporary name change to Suwannee River Baptist in 1970 but returned to being Joppa in 1975. The old church building was sold to Joe and Maggie Booth who moved the structure to Wilcox to use as their residence. God provided for a new church building, fellowship hall, and Sunday School rooms and the church has continued to grow structurally as well as physically and spiritually over the years.

about our church

Below is a list of the men who have served as the Under Shepherd of Joppa's flock.
Exact dates are not known for some of the pastors.

George Fletcher (1896-?), Preacher Smithe, Noah Patterson, Odie Owens, Lee Mathis, W.H. Brown (1951-1952), Osar Thomas, Billy Bryant (1953-?), Rosco Hurst, Sammy Lindsey, Odell Craig (1953-1962), Fred Barton, Larry Dotson, Lonnie King, Dickey Kingsley (1963-1965), Ron Scoggins, Eddie Hatch, Eddie Cox, Eddie Keene (1978-1985), Argie Windham (1988-1997, Bobby Warren, Jon King, James Hilburn, Austin McElroy, Alphees Atkins (2000-2008), Robin Thomas (2008-2021), Joshua Thomas (2022-Present)