SoapStone Baptist Church and Liberia Community 

Welcome to a very special place representing a critical part of American history!

Post Civil War resettlement of freed slaves, specifically this north eastern portion of Pickens County, SC;

First Ownership of lands by Black Families;

Clearing land to farm, building homes, and establishing a church, and

building the first Black Community in Pickens County SC.

The Liberia Community anchored by Soapstone Baptist Church

is an enclave of African-American culture and history established in 1865 by freed slaves.


* READ about the history of this area on this site and in the BOOK! (< click link)

* JOIN US FOR CHURCH!

* TOUR the grounds! (< click link)

*DONATE to the Endowment, to preserve the Church and Grounds in perpetuity (< click link)

2025 Join our Growing Congregation!!

 Join us for worship service!

We love to meet and greet new folks!


Sunday services are at 11:00 am in the Sanctuary 

or  join us by phone  760-548-9893

or on the Soapstone Church Facebook page LIVE


Bible Study:

7:00 pm Wednesdays remotely,  call  760-548-9893


For more information contact:

Mable Clarke

296 Liberia Road

Pickens, SC 29671

(864) 414-8470

Email: mclake1942@gmail.com or

SoapstoneChurchLiberiaSC@gmail.com

click the Deacon Mable's Corner tab to see what's happening all the time at Soapstone Church!




UPCOMING EVENTS


Keep an eye out for dates,

they will be posted here and on the FB Page Soapstone Church

Visit the new website for the Soapstone Preservation Endowment! soapstonepe.org



*Historic Marker Installation (TBA)

*Sculpture Additions (TBA)

*Book Signings and "The Story" told by Dr Coggeshall and Deacon Mable (TBA)

*Soapstone Schoolhouse Museum Opening (TBA)


  • Purchase the story of LIberia and Soapstone Church

    Contact Mable or come by the Church on a Sunday for Service or after to purchase a copy of LIbera. $30. 

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  • Visit the Slave Cemetery

    Follow the Self Guided Tour which will take you to all the special places on the property, including the Slave Cemetery which had been overgrown and hidden for over a century. It has been cleaned and preserved for your visit. 

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  • The School House

    Education didn't begin at this school house, but long before, as soon as the freed slaves who settled this valley began to clear the land and set up a church, education for the young and illiterate was a key motivation for the people of LIberia

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  • The Church

    Visit the Church and reminisce how it might have been 150 years ago to attend church in a Brush Arbor as the new settlers, the freed slave families, cut down the woods to make farming fields so they could live from this land.

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  • The Sculpture

    The Praying Woman from this Rock signifies the struggle and leadership and faith of the Women of the Community to hold together their families and their church throughout the struggles they faced after the Civil War, through the Jim Crow Era to the Present day to keep Soapstone Church and its rich history preserved. 

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Pastor Trower leads our Sunday Service each week. 


If you cannot come to the Church building, you can call in for service or for Bible Study to join us. 

760-548-9893


We are also on Facebook Soapstone Church page

LIVESTREAMING!

Join us


Services 

11:00 Every Sunday

Bible Study

7:00 pm Wednesdays


  • Pastor Chet Trower

    Chet.Trower@Yahoo.com

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  • Preaching and Teaching

    Every Sunday 11 am 

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  • Come Join Us


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  • God's Grace


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Rev. Chester R. "Chet" Trower, Pastor of Soapstone Church, has led the congregation since 2010. He was ordained as a Baptist minister in 2005 after his many years in service to our country, beginning with his service in the US Army as a Captain during the Vietnam Conflict from 1966-70.

He has been a member of many influential associations such as the Pickens County NAACP, Pickens County Ministerial Alliance, The Oolenoy River Baptist Association, and is invited to lecture throughout the community

He also has time for a beautiful family of 4 children and lives with his wife in Powdersville, SC


Join Bible Study

Join the Support Group

Join us for Service