The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) has been active in Georgia since the early nineteenth century, and its earliest roots can be traced to this very place, Antioch Christian Church in Oconee County. Built in 1886, Antioch stands on the same site as the original meetinghouse known as Old Republican and holds the distinction of being the oldest Christian (Disciples of Christ) Church in Georgia- the Mother Church for all others that followed in the state.

The origins of Antioch reach back to the aftermath of the American Revolution, when the fight for political independence inspired a movement toward religious liberty. Reverend James O’Kelley and other reformers in Virginia and North Carolina grew dissatisfied with rigid denominational rules and, on Christmas Day 1793, seceded from the Methodist Church at Mannakin Town, North Carolina. Seeking a purer, Scripture-based form of worship, they soon established a small congregation near Scull Shoals, Georgia—known as Old Republican Church—by around 1807.

In 1833, Elder Thacker V. Griffin of Tennessee preached at Old Republican, becoming one of the first in Georgia to teach a return to Apostolic Christianity and the principles of the Restoration Movement. His message took root, and in 1834, W. T. Lowe became the first person in Georgia baptized for the remission of sins, marking the beginning of what would become Antioch Christian Church.

From this congregation, others spread across Georgia: Mount Vernon in Walton County, Old Union in Oconee County, Bethany (now Bogart) in Jackson County, and even as far as Texas, carried by ministers and families who left to found new churches. Today, the spirit of Old Republican lives on at Antioch. Through more than two centuries of faith and fellowship, the church remains a cornerstone of Georgia’s Christian heritage—an enduring symbol of freedom, conviction, and spiritual renewal.