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Everybody is Welcome at Magnolia.
For over 100 years, Magnolia has served as a Progressive Witness of Jesus Christ in Statesboro and Bulloch County. At Magnolia, you find yourself in a warm, welcoming environment where you can experience real folks abiding in Community, loving each other, and loving God. We are a small congregation in a rural setting with convenient parking located near the front entrance for our first-time guests. Our Magnolia Ushers will be glad to help you find a seat for the worship service.
Beyond hospitality, Magnolia is committed to being Christian stewards of love. As such, we practice love, build the beloved community, and pursue social justice. We believe the overwhelming message of the Bible, in story after story, is that of God's radical love and welcome. Every time we think we know who's in and who's out, God does something to challenge those assumptions, unbind our hearts and minds from old ways of understanding, and draw the circle ever wider.
Our doors are wide open to people from all backgrounds, regardless of where they are on their spiritual journey. Together, we are striving to become a place where there's relevant teaching, heartfelt worship, honest friendships, constant prayer, and compassionate care. So whether you are a spiritual seeker who is just starting to ask questions about God or a committed Christian who wants to sink the roots of your faith even deeper, you can find a home here at Magnolia!
Enjoy Connection
THROUGH WORSHIP | Sunday services begin at 9:45 am. Before Worship, there is an engaging Sunday School that starts promptly at 9:00 am on the First, Second, and Third Sundays. Learn More.
THROUGH STUDY | Sunday School for all ages is on Sunday mornings at 9:00 am. Additionally, there is a Morning Devotion every Wednesday at 6:30 am. Just dial 717.908.1726 and use Passcode 1065315# to participate. Learn More.
THROUGH SERVICE | One of Magnolia's most important values is our mission to the Statesboro community. Magnolia's members are involved in a variety of church-based ministries and community partnerships. Feel free to contact our church office at (912) 225-3151 or via email with further questions. Learn more.
Impact Through Ministry
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We are #Rooted2Rise by Growing from the Ground Up!
Fifth Sunday Selah: Rooted Enough to Rest
Every Fifth Sunday is Selah. Selah is a sacred pause. It reminds us that everything does not have to move, produce, perform, or prove itself all the time. Scripture teaches us that rest is part of God’s design. God rested after creation. Israel was commanded to keep the Sabbath. In Deuteronomy, that command was rooted in liberation: remember that you were once enslaved in Egypt. Sabbath declared that Pharaoh no longer controlled their time, their bodies, or their labor.
That matters for us.
Our people know what it means to be valued by how much we can carry, how long we can endure, and how much we can produce. Our ancestors survived systems that demanded their labor while denying their humanity. Yet they still found ways to pray, sing, gather, laugh, eat together, tell stories, and create joy.
Rest, then, is not laziness. Rest can be resistance. It is a declaration that I am more than what I produce. My worth does not rise and fall with my productivity. My body is worthy of care. My spirit is worthy of renewal. My life belongs to God. That is why Selah is essential to #Rooted2Rise.
A tree cannot keep reaching upward if its roots are neglected. Some of the most important growth happens where nobody can see it, beneath the surface, in stillness and quiet. Prayer deepens the roots. Reflection examines the roots. Gratitude strengthens the roots. Community protects the roots. Rest restores the roots.
So on Fifth Sundays, we intentionally make room to pause, pray, reflect, reconnect, and rest. Jesus told his disciples, “Come away by yourselves to a quiet place and rest a while.” That remains the invitation of Selah. Come away. Not forever. Just long enough to breathe again. Long enough to hear God again. Long enough to remember who you are when you are not working, serving, fixing, carrying, or producing. Sometimes rest is the ministry. And sometimes, before God takes us higher, God calls us deeper.Be still. Be restored. Be rooted. Then rise.
#Rooted2Rise
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Lifelong Learning Is a Gift of Pentecost
Pentecost is not only the miracle of speaking. It is also the miracle of hearing, understanding, and becoming open to truth. The Spirit moved across languages, cultures, generations, and experiences without requiring people to surrender their identities. Pentecost teaches us that God can create community without demanding sameness.
For this reason, lifelong learning is a Pentecost gift.
The Holy Spirit enlarges our understanding, challenges our assumptions, awakens curiosity, and leads us deeper into truth. A Spirit-filled church must therefore be a learning church. We must study Scripture, history, science, culture, and the world we are called to serve.
For African Americans, learning has always meant more than personal advancement. Our ancestors pursued literacy when education was forbidden because they understood that knowledge could challenge bondage. They learned, taught one another, preserved memory, and read Scripture as an oppressed people seeking freedom.
The Black Church continued that tradition. It became sanctuary, schoolhouse, organizing center, and training ground for generations of leaders. It taught our people to read both the Bible and the world.
That same commitment helped build and sustain Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Georgia’s HBCUs continue educating teachers, ministers, physicians, attorneys, scientists, artists, entrepreneurs, and public servants. The historic relationship between the Black Church and the HBCU must remain a living covenant.
Our churches must support students through scholarships, mentoring, internships, prayer, encouragement, and sustained relationships with HBCUs. We are heirs of people who learned when learning was dangerous and built schools when resources were scarce. Now the responsibility is ours. Pentecost calls us to open our mouths, but also our minds. The Spirit is still teaching. The Church must remain teachable.
We are #Rooted2Rise by Growing from the Ground Up!
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P3 Revival Impact and The Pink Robe Chronicles
Magnolia Missionary Baptist Church gives thanks for the powerful impact of our P3 Revival, August 18–20, 2026. What began as three nights centered on Promise, Purpose, and Power became something much larger: a season of prayer, worship, community engagement, spiritual renewal, radical hospitality, and faithful investment.
We prayed together, welcomed neighbors and friends, supported seniors through Action Pact, invested in the Savannah State University Honors Program and Georgia Southern University’s Center for Africana Studies, celebrated our HBCU heritage, and created space for people to be encouraged, challenged, and renewed.
The impact was not measured only by attendance or offerings, but by deeper prayer, stronger participation, renewed service, and a clearer commitment to the community God has called us to serve.
That spirit of renewal also continues through our commitment to lifelong learning. Our Pastor’s Book Recommendation, The Pink Robe Chronicles: Womanist Wisdom for Healing, Liberation, and Love by Rev. Dr. Melva L. Sampson, invites us to keep reflecting on healing, rest, memory, liberation, and what it means to live fully and faithfully.
The revival services have ended, but the work continues. We are committed to turning spiritual momentum into discipleship, volunteer engagement, community service, deeper learning, and new relationships. Magnolia remains good ground because we are committed to being a place where people are redeemed, reconciled, restored, and revived.
We are rooted in faith, community, memory, and the belief that what God plants can still rise.
#Rooted2Rise
PROGRESS REPORT
As part of this vision, Magnolia proudly celebrates the completion of major renovations to our kitchen and fellowship hall. These renewed spaces, featuring updated appliances, cabinetry, flooring, plumbing, paint, and energy-efficient improvements, reflect our commitment to strengthening ministry, deepening hospitality, expanding outreach, and increasing our impact throughout the community for generations to come.
About Community
The Magnolia Missionary Baptist Church of Statesboro, Georgia, was organized on March 18, 1914. The pioneers of this Church journeyed from the Magnolia Missionary Baptist Church of Louisville, Georgia in search of a better life for their families. Magnolia of Louisville was organized on May 17, 1868, after the Civil War, but before the ratification of the 14th Amendment, which extended liberties and rights granted by the Bill of Rights to formerly enslaved people.
For more than 100 years, this Church has stood as a physical representation of the hope and determination of the African American spirit. Magnolia has always served people through its Watch, Witness, and Worship.
At Magnolia, all our resources are utilized to provide a Christ-centered setting where people in this community can be redeemed to a personal relationship with Christ, reconciled to God and his people, restored to wholeness, to well-being, and revived for a full life involved in service to others.
At Magnolia, everyone is welcomed and affirmed!
Show Your Pride
Show your Magnolia pride wherever you go! Visit The Magnolia Shop to browse exclusive shirts, sweatshirts, mugs, and other items that celebrate our church’s spirit of faith, service, and community.
We are proud to partner with Black- and minority-owned businesses to source, produce, and distribute our products — keeping our ministry rooted in economic justice and community empowerment. Every purchase supports the ministries and mission of Magnolia Baptist Church.
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A CHARGE TO KEEP I HAVE
Magnolia Missionary Baptist Church is well served by the Reverend Dr. Francys Johnson. The pulpit of Sweet Magnolia has long provided community-wide leadership.
Over the last 26 years, Dr. Johnson has also exemplified the values of Christian service with humility before the Mount Moriah Baptist Church congregation of Pembroke. First Lady Meca Williams-Johnson’s particular success in youth programming and academic mentoring are assets to the ministries of Magnolia. Further, they are ambassadors of our faith community to the region and nation.