215 China Clay Road
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Last updated on November 21, 2024
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The Steadfast Church of God in Christ and cemetery was founded by Phoebe Jane Crockett Brooks of Austinville, who moved to Augusta County when she was young. Pheobe married Samuel Ester Brooks and had eight children. The family moved to Lyndhurst, now part of Stuarts Draft. The Brooks attended the Beulah Baptist Church. Pheobe had a spiritual experience in which she had a vision to become a pastor. She gathered a following, and the Beulah Baptist Church removed Pheobe and her believers for doctrinal differences. The congregation followed Pheobe “Mother Brooks,” who became their pastor, and they worshiped from home to home until the members needed a larger space to meet. In 1927, land was purchased from member Brother Wesley Hepburn, and “The Holiness Church” was erected. A burial ground was started next to the church on the same property. The church dealt with prejudice in its early years from white men who threatened members’ and Mother Brooks’ safety and freedom to worship. Under Pastor Elder Winston Harris, the church underwent remolding and was renamed “The Steadfast Church of God in Christ.” Mother Brooks died in 1950, and the church remained active.