In 1894, Miss Agnes “Aggie” Gray led a movement to establish an inter-denominational church at Thunderbolt. With funds collected for the purpose, a small building was erected by Mr. Gray on River Drive, along Thunderbolt’s Bluff, in 1896. Miss Agnes Gray taught school during the week and held Sunday School on the weekends. The one-room frame schoolhouse had four double hung windows, with twelve over twelve panes, and an entrance on the gabled end of the structure.

During the late 1800s, black residents in the community erected a prayer house, a branch of the First African Baptist Church of Savannah, on Bannon Drive at the end of Mechanics Avenue. On 3 January 1900, the prayer house reorganized as an independent church and changed their name from Thunderbolt First African Baptist Church to the Central Baptist Church.

Central Baptist Church

On Bannon Drive near Mechanics Avenue, a prayer house was erected by area blacks as a branch of the First African Baptist Church of Savannah. On 3 January 1900, the church split and formed the independent congregation under the name Central Baptist Church.

Church of the Nativity of Our Lord

The Catholic Church of the Nativity of Our Lord is located on Mechanics Avenue at Victory Drive. It began in 1918, when Mrs. Nellie Dowling and Mrs. Rosalind Ward started Sunday School classes in the Glaiber home in Thunderbolt. In 1926, the classes were moved to the Elmgren home on Mechanics Avenue. From 1936 until 1942, a small mission chapel was held in the old Bannon Lodge on River Drive. In 1947, construction of the new two-story brick sanctuary on Mechanics Avenue began (present location). By October the church was ready for occupation and on 2 November 1947, the church was officially dedicated. In 1951, the Sisters of Mercy started a small school in the church.

Saint Luke’s Lutheran Church

Saint Luke’s is located on Mechanics Avenue in Thunderbolt and has been an important part of the community for over one-hundred years. The church sanctuary is the oldest still standing in Thunderbolt. In 1929, the property of the Union Church was transferred to the Lutheran pastors, C. A. Linn, H. J. Black and T. S. Brown, acting as Trustees for a Lutheran congregation yet to be organized in Thunderbolt. The old Union Church was repaired and remodeled, creating a chancel, choir, sacristy and bathrooms. The altar was a gift of the Lutheran Church of Birmingham, Alabama and had previously been in the Lutheran Church of the Ascension in Savannah. Saint Luke’s Lutheran Church was organized with twelve charter members including the Ambos family, Elmgren, Griffin, and Oetgen. Saint Luke’s Lutheran Church held their first services on 9 November 1930 with Pastor Alfred Shelley. Shelley served the congregation for fifteen years until his death in 1946. After his death in February, his home, adjacent to the church, was purchased as a parsonage for Saint Luke’s. The Educational Hall, later named Rohde Memorial Building, was dedicated in 1935 for the Sunday School. In 1962, the congregation moved into a new sanctuary and remodeled the old church into a social hall, named in honor of Pastor Shelley. During renovations the cupola and bell, cross, and narthex were removed.

Thunderbolt Baptist Church

Located on Bannon Drive, the Thunderbolt Baptist Church was organized on 20 November 1951. Before dedicating their new church on 9 November 1952, church meetings were held in W. W. Hall’s home and the Thunderbolt Town Hall. Reverend Richard D. Hinely was the first pastor, followed by S. J. Lawson in 1956. In 1956, the church put the old sanctuary on a new basement, providing new Sunday School rooms, a Pastor’s study and a utility room.

Thunderbolt Presbyterian Chapel

In 1912, those of the Presbyterian denomination worshipped in the “Little Red Chapel” on Falligant Avenue, built by Mayor William W. Aimar. In 1922, James N. Moore, of the First Presbyterian Church of Savannah, started a Sunday School in the old Union Church with about thirty-five students. The Thunderbolt Presybterian Chapel was officially organized on 6 February 1923 with twenty-five charter members. The cornerstone for a chapel was laid on 29 March 1925 on Bannon Drive. Reverend Arthur Morrison Martin, served as their first pastor from 1928 until 1938. The chapel was originally a member of the Savannah Presbytery. In July of 1948, they left the Savannah Presbytery and became a chapel under Independent Presbyterian Church of Savannah.

Union Church

On 6 April 1895 the Union Church of Warsaw was granted its original charter for a period of twenty years. Named for the official name of the town at the time, the church was commonly referred to as the Union Church of Thunderbolt. On 29 June 1903 the small frame building with a cupola, erected at a cost of $1,600, was dedicated. The building seated two-hundred and fifty people and was led by Reverend John S. Wilder when it started. Services were held one Sunday a month for those of the Methodist, Presbyterian and Baptist denominations. In 1929, the Trustees of the church passed a resolution to turn over the church building to a Lutheran congregation, which became Saint Luke’s.

Wesley Oaks Methodist Church

Wesley Oaks was named for the oak trees along Thunderbolt’s bluff under which John Wesley preached to the colonial settlers and the Indians while he was in Georgia. It is the first church to be organized of those remaining today. In 1910, a group of Methodists that had been attending the Union Church decided to withdraw and establish their own church. The congregation purchased two lots on Dale Avenue (Victory Drive) on 10 May 1912. The first sanctuary was constructed of rough lumber with wooden benches. In 1915, a new frame church was erected. The church is located on Victory Drive at Mechanics Avenue, across from the Church of the Nativity. In 1948, the Falligant Home on Mechanics Avenue, adjacent to the church, was purchased as the church parsonage. In the 1950s, the sanctuary was extensively remodeled and the building moved. Today the stuccoed building has a beautiful stained glass window over the main entrance.