Humble Beginnings
The first gathering of people in the community was organized by Jane Gunter, wife of Eldridge and mother of "Cilla" and Willa Gunter. The year was 1873. Miss Jane and a few others in the community created enough interest among the locals which led to the construction of a Brush Arbor Church. It was located on top of the hill in Sugarbottom. This early meeting place was on the land owned by either Eldridge Gunter or by Billy and Mary Gunter.
In 1877 this young church played a vital part in the organizing of the Lexington Baptist Association. Pine Grove, Convent, Florence, New Hope, Samaria, Black Creek, New Prospect, and Sandy Run (Gaston First Baptist Church) pulled out of the Orangeburg Association to form a new association
Sadly, the Brush Arbor Church burned down mysteriously in 1880.
In 1881 that the congregation put up its first church house. It was not at the same site as the Brush Arbor. It was erected in the area of a spring, the headwaters of what is now called "Pit Branch"
A simple structure, the foundation was a few large rocks and some pine log stumps. Inside the sanctuary at the pulpit end of the building the floor was raised a foot. The rostrum was homemade. There were two rows of twelve foot long benches, five benches on each side. The chimney was stone and mortar
Then it was moved up the hill.
The congregation was thankful for the humble little sanctuary as it neared completion in 1881.
The late 1940s
A new sanctuary was constructed (complete with a baptistry) in 1947 with the addition of a fellowship hall in 1952. This little building became over crowded on many occasions, extra chairs filled the aisles for services, revivals, weddings and funerals. The small fellowship hall served as Sunday School classrooms and as a place for multiple meals during special serves. Attendance grew to overcapacity in the late 1990s.
The year 1999
In the year 1999 the congregation voted to build a new facility across the road from the current building that would accommodate our growing needs. So in 2002 a multi purpose facility was completed with a sanctuary, classrooms, kitchen, and church offices all under one roof. The upstairs was completed in 2006.