Don Hepburn
Managing Director
Florida Baptist Historical Society
Linda Gramling (Mrs. Herbert) Demott of the community of Elizabeth in Jefferson County, Fla., was presented the 2023 Baptist Heritage Award for “her visionary and yeoman efforts to preserve, record and publish the history of the Elizabeth Baptist Church, Monticello, Florida,” according to the Florida Baptist Historical Society.
The presentation of the award was made Sunday, May 21, at the Elizabeth Baptist Church, on the occasion of the 192-year anniversary of the congregation. Making the presentation was Donald S. Hepburn, managing director of the Society.
Demott, age 84, is a lifelong member of the Elizabeth Baptist Church who has worked diligently since the early 1990s to collect, organize and develop material for a history book on the church that was established in 1831. She made it a goal to write and publish a church history book, making it the first narrative of its type for the congregation. Publication of the book is set to occur in June.
In 2022 a special project Demott undertook was the planned creation of a bronze plaque containing a replica of the church’s original constitution handwritten in nineteenth century English alongside a contemporary language translation. She single-handedly raised the necessary funds to have the bronze display produced by a third-party vendor. The plaque was dedicated by the church members during the May 21 morning worship service.
As Elizabeth Baptist Church's designated historian since the 1950s, Demott has prepared church anniversary observance material each year, including the development of skits to “bring to life” the church’s historical leaders and events. Additionally, to promote the church’s history and to educate current members, she enlisted other volunteers to establish a designated history display of early information and memorabilia about the Elizabeth Baptist Church. This task required the identification and collection of material for preservation.
In her committed volunteer service to the church, Demott also has served since 1955 as the volunteer music leader and pianist. Her high level of interest in music resulted in her being enlisted year-after-year as the associational music director for the Middle Florida Baptist Association. Additionally, for many years she was enlisted by the Church Music Department, Florida Baptist Convention, to serve as a leader of specialty conferences designed for the small church music leaders. For 25 years Demott taught piano at Aucilla Christian Academy.
Throughout her married life, Demott was a committed spouse, full-time homemaker and a mother of four children. At middle age, because of her interest and abilities in music, Demott pursued formal academic training in music at the North Florida Junior College and the Florida State University School of Music.
According to the Society's website, the Baptist Heritage Award “seeks to recognize and honor those Florida Baptists who have exhibited rare and unusual dedication to the cause of Florida Southern Baptist history.” This includes having made a significant impact through such tasks as researching and writing Baptist history, teaching Baptist history, preserving Baptist history and/or promoting the importance of Florida Southern Baptist history.
Since 1997, twenty-six individuals have been conferred the Baptist Heritage Award by the Florida Baptist Historical Society. These persons represented a broad range of Florida Baptists including pastors, denominational workers, college and seminary professors, and laypersons, all of whom had an interest and commitment to preserving, researching and publishing about Florida Baptist history.
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