Our
Story
Our Story
Ebenezer Baptist is a small church in a beautiful rural setting in northern Florida, just 30 minutes east of Tallahassee and ten minutes south of Monticello. We are also about 30 minutes south of Thomasville, GA.
The church was established in 1828 two years after the establishment of Jefferson County. Monticello was established in 1827 as the county seat after the acquisition of Florida in the Louisiana Purchase.
2 acres of land were deeded to the church from the plantation of Casa Bianca. The original building burned and the current sanctuary was built on this property. The deed gave 4.5 acres to the church from Edward Cabell, a former U.S. congressman.
There are reportedly five unmarked graves of plantation slaves on the property. The first records of “colored” female members is in 1864.
The first permanent Missionary Baptist Association, forerunner of the Baptist State Convention, was organized here in 1843. In 1991 the congregation began association with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship believing that God calls all people, male and female. to the ministry and leadership of the church.
Ebenezer is very action oriented, participating in local, state, national, and global mission projects. We are aligned with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship at the state and national levels.
Get to Know Us
Our Mission
Our mission is to share Christ with as many people as possible; to commune with God through worship; to seek God’s leadership; to minister unselfishly to the community and to the world; to grow in the knowledge of God and man and help others grow in this way; and to live with Christ as our model. We pray that we may live our words and be faithful to Christ, who gave everything for us. At Ebenezer, every member is a minster. It is our desire that Ebenezer be a place of fellowship, love, and grace; a place where everyone feels at home.
Rose Steeple Windows
Isaiah 35 1The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. 2 It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing:
The windows are a gift in memory of the “two Roses”,
Rose Dodrill and Rose Kelly.
The Rose is often the symbolic representation of beauty and perfection. Jesus has been referenced as to be the Rose of Sharon, the resurrection of the desert into a beautiful flower garden, the metaphorical bride in the Song of Solomon:
Song of Solomon 2
I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.
Meet Our Pastor
The Reverend Phil Miller-Evans
Phil previously was the pastor of The Church of the Beatitudes for 20 years and has been an ordained pastor for 36 years. Out of the urban ministry of Saint Petersburg Phil and his wife Janel developed Micah Center*. They were briefly field personnel for CBF Global Missions 2014-2016 and continue as commissioned home missionaries for American Baptist Churches to this project. Santa Claus contributes between $2000 and $6000 a year to the children’s ministry at Micah Center.
Previous to The Church of the Beatitudes, Phil was an associate pastor on staff at large United Methodist and Presbyterian churches in Florida. And he began his pastoral ministry at two small Baptist churches in upstate New York (Coldspring and Latham). He was ordained as an American Baptist Churches, USA pastor in 1987 at Cold Spring, NY after graduating from Colgate Rochester/ Bexley Hall/ Crozer Theological Seminary, Rochester, NY - Degree of Master of Divinity.
Phil has been married to Janel for 40 years. Janel is an ordained pastor and has a full-time counseling practice as a licensed clinical social worker. They have two grown sons. Elder son, Ian, lives in South Korea with his wife Young Eun and twin daughters. They created, own, operate and teach at the English STEM School. Younger son, Trevor, works management for SunStar Emergency Service in Pinellas County, FL. He is married to Sarah and has one son.
Phil has served in many roles on the Representative Assembly of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Florida and the Caribbean.
Phil and Janel have two service dogs, Rosie and Ladybug.