New TV series explores history of rural Georgia churches

Stinchcomb Methodist Church in Elbert County, Georgia. (Photo by Randy Clegg)

Rural churches were once central to their communities, but many have been abandoned as people move to cities. Georgia Public Broadcasting has started a six-part series called Saving Grace, which explores Southern history through the lens of rural churches with interviews, first-person accounts, old maps, photos and engravings, and roots music. The full episode of the first part is available here.

The GPB series is based on the work of Sonny Seals and George Hart. In 2012 they made it their mission to chronicle and preserve historic rural churches across the state. Their website, Historical Rural Churches of Georgia, documents more than two hundred churches with gorgeous photography and carefully researched histories. It's worth a read.