An early work of world-renowned folk artist Rev. Howard Finster will be auctioned in the upcoming days and proceeds from that auction will benefit a Chattooga County church.

The painting is called “Chelsea Baptist Church” and was painted by Finster while he was pastor of the church over forty years ago.   While many people today recognize the name of Howard Finster, there are some who don’t realize that he was an active Baptist preacher for many years in Chattooga County.  Rev. Finster is said to have painted the picture at the request of a Sunday School class at Chelsea Baptist.

The painting depicts Jesus being baptized in the Jordan River and then a small rendition of worshipers entering Chelsea Baptist Church in Menlo.

Rev. Bobby Lemmons, the current pastor of Cheslea Baptist told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he had been familiar with the painting for many years, but it wasn’t until recently that the church realized they had a valuable, early-work of Rev. Finster’s.

Pastor Lemmons told the Atlanta newspaper that the church plans to use proceeds from the painting to do upgrades at Chelsea Baptist.  Lemmons said, ““I saw an interview with Howard Finster and one of the things he said was that everything he did was to further the kingdom of God and spread the Gospel. If we can continue to do that with the proceeds and if it ends up one day in a museum for the public to see, it’s a win-win.”