The legendary Soapstone Baptist Church Fish Fry is coming back for an encore this September

PUMPKINTOWN, SC – The legendary Soapstone Baptist Church Fish Fry is coming back for an encore this September.

As a spry 83-year-old, Mable Owens Clarke said “it's no big deal to plan a lunch for several hundred of her friends and supporters” one more time in order to support the historic church tucked away in the hills of Pickens County.

It will be held Saturday, September 13 from noon to 6 p.m. at Soapstone Baptist Church, 296 Liberia Road, Pickens, SC.

This is rain or shine / eat on the grounds or in the dining hall or take out. It is $30 per person all-inclusive with 100% of proceeds to benefit Soapstone Baptist Church. As an added bonus, guests will be able to tour the restored and refurbished Century-old one-room school before or after they eat.

“If you've never had the opportunity to enjoy one of Mable's meals, you don't want to miss it,” said Carlton Owen, President of the Soapstone Preservation Endowment. “For 22 years Mable hosted such lunches once each month, 10 months of each year, to support the church founded by her emancipated great grandparents.”

Clarke is the sixth-generation steward and matriarch of Soapstone Baptist Church (soapstonechurch.com). In 1999, her mother on her death bed made Mable promise to never let the historically Black church in the Liberia community of Pickens County close.  As part of her mission, Clarke began doing monthly fish fries for the community.   

The effort to preserve Soapstone Church has generated interest from across South Carolina and beyond over recent years. Soapstone Baptist Church was founded in the mid-1860s when freed slaves from surrounding South Carolina counties sought a path from being property to owning property. They felt God led them to this hilltop in Pickens County and used them and this land to change generations. It is currently the oldest active Black church in Upstate South Carolina.

An Endowment was created in 2022 to help manage and protect this important property and oversee the preservation of the land and buildings for their historic and cultural value. The Soapstone Preservation Endowment (soapstonepe.org) is a 501(c)(3) charity supporting the property and history; the operating church budget is provided by the members and friends of Soapstone Baptist Church.