For a moment let us go back, back in time to the year 1869 to a small town called Keans Neck, South Carolina. A group of recently freed blacks gather under the clear blue skies amid the moss-laden trees. The worshippers kneel on the velvet like grass and pray to God Almighty. They sang hymns accompanied by chirping birds and they read scriptures on a cathedral created by the hands of God. From this simple beginning evolved the Keans Neck Baptist Church of Dale, South Carolina.
 
The Keans Neck Baptist Church was organized under the guidance of the Mother church, Tabernacle Baptist Church of Beaufort, South Carolina. The Keans Neck Baptist Church was organized and dedicated under the leadership of Rev. R.F. Blythewood of Tabernacle. The first officers were Billy Middleton, Adam Snipes, Peter Rivers, Peter Maxwell, George Green and Daniel Gadson. The congregation gathered under a bush tent and in members’ homes for thirteen years, during which time they obtained funds to purchase land and build their first sanctuary. Under the guidance of Rev. Blythewood, the newly formed church of 230 members joined the Gethsemane Baptist Association on November 14, 1871 during the Fifth Session which was held at the Calvary Baptist Church in Columbia, SC.

In 1882 Rev. S.H. Chisolm became the first resident pastor of the church and the first sanctuary was completed during his first year as pastor.  On June 21, 1882 approximately 900 individuals witnessed the Keans Neck Baptist Church congregation christen their new sanctuary under the name of Mount Carmel Baptist Church of Keans Neck, South Carolina. The Deacons Ministry consisted of the following dedicated men; James Dawson, Isaac Coleman, Robert Prichard, Jolly Middleton, Thomas Heyward, Thomas Hunt, Parris Glover, and Moses Coakley. The following men answered the call of God and became licensed Ministers, they were known as the Sons of Mount Carmel; Frank Williams, Peter W. Maxwell, Thomas J. Maxwell, Daniel Kline, and Thomas Maxwell, Jr.  Rev. S.H. Chisolm led the Mount Carmel congregation for forty-one years which ended in 1923.