Mission Statement

We the people of Baptist Tabernacle Church are a body of baptized believers in Jesus Christ.  Ordained and commissioned by Christ to represent him on earth.   Being empowered by the Holy Spirit, we seek to glorify God by: Exalting the Savior, Evangelizing the Lost, Equipping the Believers, Encouraging the Saints, and Enriching the Fellowship.

Our History

Retyped Article from The Gold Leaf Farmer, Wendell, NC, Thursday, February 17, 1972

Baptist Tabernacle Church’s new modern sanctuary was dedicated Sunday afternoon with an overflowing crowd of members, former members and friends attending the ceremony.

The Rev. W.C. Barham, former pastor, was the morning speaker.

The following are excerpts of the church history compiled by Mrs. Jack Bailey.

The people in the northern edge of Johnston County, around Richardson’s store saw and felt the need for spiritual heritage to give their children. Near the crossroad was a two-room school, Holder’s School, that most of the surrounding people had attended. It was in this building that local people met and held some of their worship services. They invited evangelists, often having services in their homes.

In the Spring of 1921, Reverend C.H. Matthews came into our community and conducted a revival meeting under a large tent. While he was there he was guest at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Ruben Perry Batten. It was during this meeting that a group of Christians met and organized a church and named it the Union Tabernacle Church, which was then nondenominational.

Church building plans were talked at the local Richardson store by community men, Everett Holder, Henry John Batten, Bryant Parrish, Ruffin Holder, Milton Nowell, Will Liles, David Hocutt, Bill Moody, Gene Hinton, Oscar Tippett, Rufus Richardson, Alma Alford, Garlie Hocutt, Charlie Carpenter, Jessie Johnson, Jim Driver, Aaron Wood, H. H. Batten, G.E. Wall, R.P. Batten, Elbert Williamson and others.

Mr. and Mrs. R.P. Batten gave the ground where a wooden structure was erected by the people of the community. This was to be their first place of worship as an organized church.

Dedication services were held by Rev. C.H. Matthews and all the people of the community going to the hilltop where the land was dedicated to the Lord. The first $50.00 given by Al Hocutt started the building fund. Later, Mr. and Mrs. A. W. Hocutt gave more land to enlarge the grounds. The Church voted to call Reverend L.F. Fielden as their first pastor. The first deacons of Union Tabernacle Church were David Hocutt, Oscar Tippett, Gene Hinton, R.P. Batten, Alma A. Alford and G.E. Wall. Mr. Heflin H. Batten was appointed Church Clerk.The first service was held May 1922, with the morning speaker the Reverend C.H. Matthews.

The first song sung in the new church was “Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus”. Lunch was served on the grounds; afternoon speaker was Reverend L.F. Fielden.

The first Sunday School was organized with Jessie Johnson as Superintendent. Teachers Mrs. Ella Hinton, Mrs. Katie Carpenter, Mrs. Mamie Holder, Rufus Richardson, Mrs. H.H. Batten, Garlie Hocutt, Charlie Carpenter, and others.

Our church carried out local mission work. In those days, the membership was made up of farmers who tilled the soil by mule and plow for a living and had very little income. Sometimes the pastor would be paid by home-grown vegetables or homemade jellies, syrup, butter or by eggs.

If a man became sick and could not harvest his crop, everyone pitched in and did it for him. Barn raisings, corn shuckings for the men and quilting parties for the women were held. Fellowship would consist of the entire community getting together, cooking fish stew in a big wash pot, or barbecuing a pig.

The community nurse was Mrs. Becky Parrish. The babies were born at home in their mother’s bed, and the older children got to spend the night away from home.

Most people lived in four-room homes, or less, heated by open fireplaces, slept four to a bed if you were lucky, for some it would mean sleeping at the foot. Hand-me-down clothes were worn, no shoes on our feet; sometimes our hair would get too long, but we were not rebellious against our parents or the establishment.

Back then, after a revival service in our church, the new members were baptized in nearby rivers.

The years 1929-1945, this country was hit by a great depression, which gave us a period of lean years, but we were still busy doing the Lord’s work. We had our “Hoover Carts”, but God blessed us with good crops. We could raise most of our food. We had chickens, eggs, milk and butter. In the depth of the depression, we loved our neighbors, sharing our material blessings, along with our Spiritual. The membership continued to increase under the pastorate of Rev. S.J. Betts, Rev. W.E. (Bill) Anderson, and Rev. James Stancil.

On November 23, 1923, “God called home one of the saints of our church, Mrs. Fannie Kemp, who was the first to be buried in our cemetery. Mrs. Katie Liles, wife of Mr. Gus Liles, second. On February 17, 1928, one of our Sunday School girls, Christine Alford, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Alma Alford went to live with Jesus.

In 1936, after Reverend J.N. Stancil became pastor, the members became interested in joining some denominational group. On January 12, 1936, a vote was taken of the membership and a majority preferred to unite with the Missionary Baptist

Association. A number of delegates from Union Tabernacle Church met with the Johnston Association at Lee’s Chapel on November 4 and 5, 1936, and asked to be received into the Association and were accepted.

At the time, the church became a member of the Johnston Association with a membership of 125; the name of the church was

changed from Union Tabernacle Church to Baptist Tabernacle Church. In 1936, the deacons were H.H. Batten, R.M. Nowell, and A. A. Alford.

In 1948, the members decided to build a new church. When a building fund of $5,000 had been built up over the years through Harvest Day Sales, church suppers, food booths at the tobacco sales and other activities.

The $5,000 was a long way from the $25,000 needed to erect the church where response was amazing. The members of this rural church were still mostly made up of members who tilled the soil for a living. Yet, two $1,000 donations and several $500

contributions were received. The Harvest Day Sales had helped lift the rural churches from the depth of the depression.

A building committee was formed of eighteen members, with Mr. A. W. Hocutt as Chairman. Actual construction of the building got under way in November, 1948. C.W. Hinton, contractor, and a few workmen were employed, but all the labor was donated by the members.

In the years from 1936 to 1949, the membership had increased from 150 to 250. The new building was constructed of brick and consisted of auditorium, library and thirteen other rooms. Later the same year, an oil heating plant was installed. In 1951 a deep well was drilled and pump installed to supply the church with water. Work was finished on the yards in the Spring of 1953. This building had a seating capacity of 320.

Rev. J.N. Stancil had remained a faithful pastor from 1936 and was speaker for the first service held in the new church, May, 1949. The membership was increased to 271.

The church served as the place of worship and a light house in this rural community for the next 22 years. During that time the church bought an organ in 1955. Church budget revised (larger) in 1957.

Pastors serving the church since 1936 are as follows: Revs. J.N. Stancil, Duane Poole, S.G. Stevens, A.D. Stephenson, Dale Davis, Dan Silvers, W. C. Barham, and our present Pastor, Shuford O. Edwins, Jr.

In 1960, the minister of Baptist Tabernacle Church and his wife moved into the church’s newly completed parsonage. The handsome ranch-style structure begun in November 1959 and completed February 22, 1960.

The one acre of land on which the six-room parsonage sits was donated by Mrs. Mamie Richardson. The home has three bedrooms, kitchen-dinette combination, bath, utility and garage. It is constructed of brick veneer.

Under the leadership of Rev. W. C. Barham from 1959, the membership began a continuous increase. The sanctuary became crowded and even with the educational building erected in 1961, more rooms were needed for Sunday School. In October, 1968,

the church had a membership of 487. Total enrolled in Sunday School was 307, Training Union 81, Women’s Missionary Union 123. Once again members at Baptist Tabernacle Church launched another building fund drive. For the next two years the people worked together making plans for a new sanctuary.

Rev. W.C. Barham resigned as pastor in December, 1969, after being called as pastor of Hopkins Chapel Church. Andrew Batten, Chairman of the Board of Deacons, assumed the responsibility of leadership until the church could replace the pulpit with another pastor. God really poured out His Spirit upon Andrew Batten as he faithfully led the church and its members, not failing in their efforts to push forth their plans.

In the Summer of 1970, the church called Rev. Shuford O. Edwins, Jr., for trial message. His first message, was from II Samuel, Chapter 18– Defeat and Death of Absalom. The church voted to accept him as their pastor. He has been the church’s pastor since September, 1970.

The building committee presented plans for a new sanctuary with the proposed cost of $127,000. This did not include $10,000 for inside furnishing. The contract awarded to Davidson & Jones of Raleigh. The new sanctuary is 95 feet long and 50 feet wide. Open beams of natural pine will be on the inside and can also be seen from the

outside. The balcony seats 50, making total seating of 450 persons comfortably. Stained glass windows from the old church would be grouped in five and six groupings.

There will be a covered walkway from the building to the educational building. The pulpit is 28 inches from the floor level and

directly behind the pulpit is the choir loft which will accommodate 30 singers.

Directly behind the choir loft is the baptistry. A modern steeple adorns the front of the building featuring a cross which at night will be lighted with a soft glow. The building will lend beauty with wall-to-wall carpeting. Construction will be of brick. A permapressed material is used on the front from the eaves to the apex of the roof. The building is completely air-conditioned and heated electrically.

Samples of light oak furnishings with red carpet were presented. The bell used in the old church will be placed somewhere in the new building. The church voted to accept the plans.

Worship services were held for the last time Sunday, July 25, 1971, in the building erected in 1949. Ground-breaking ceremonies were held at 2:00 pm in commemoration of the beginning of construction of the new sanctuary and facilities on site. Turning the first spade of earth was Howard Driver, Chairman of the Building Committee. Other members participated in the ceremonies. Following the brief ceremony, the spade was sold to F.B. (Peck) Gordon for $100.00. This sum will supplement the building fund. Song services followed the memorable occasion. Over 300 church members and friends were present for the services.

During the Summer and Fall, services were held in the educational building. Our worship services and other church meetings were held as usual, as we watched the new building take shape.

The starting construction began August 1, 1971 and our first service in the new sanctuary was January 23, 1972. Mr. Donald Pulley inherited the shovel from Uncle Peck, and Donald donated the shovel back to the church to be auctioned to raise money for the Family Ministry Center Building Fund.

NOTE: The above information are excerpts of the Church history compiled by Jannie Baily.

Family Ministry Center

In May 1996 a Long-Range Planning Committee was formed to study the feasibility of a Family Ministry Center. From that, a Building Committee was formed, and a recommendation was made to build a Family Ministry Center. Original cost of the structure was $700,000. The Church decided to save $300,000 as a down payment before we started the building. To assist with the funding, a Building Finance Committee was formed to research funding options for the building. After lots of praying, planning and saving, the decision was to have annual BBQ Chicken suppers to raise the $300,000. Also, it was decided to use the profits from the annual Fall Fest and the annual Homecoming Offerings to raise the down payment. Additionally, the Building Finance Committee proposed that the Church have a “Challenge to Build” program to get three-year commitments from the Church membership toward paying for the upcoming building. All this hard praying, planning, and work eventually saved the required $300,000 and received commitments from the Church membership of an additional $260,000 over the next three years. With that in hand, the Finance Committee and the Building Committee decided on First Citizens Bank as the lender and the process was in motion. Groundbreaking and construction began on March 10, 2002, and the Family Ministry Center was officially opened at Homecoming in October 2002 with the official Certificate of Occupancy issued on Tuesday, November 12, 2002. The original loan was for 15 years, but after refinancing several times to get better interest rates, lots of fundraising, lots of squeezing our finances, and lots of praying and loads of help from the members of Baptist Tabernacle Church, we paid off the mortgage two years early! We praise God in this endeavor. As a result, we currently have a Family Ministry Center which includes a large open multipurpose room, additional bathrooms with showers, dressing rooms, industrial kitchen, offices for the Pastor, Youth Director, and Church Secretary, Church Library, and a full basement, which currently houses our Flea Market Ministry. This facility serves many purposes, such as Sunday School Classes, church meetings, church meals, homecoming meals, wedding receptions, bridal and baby showers, fundraisers, and other functions.

Family Ministry Center Building Committee

Joe Tarlton, Chairman

Tonya Bailey

Paul Brown

Joyce Creech

Walt Dillon

Allette Hale

100th Anniversary Celebration Committee

Ricky Watson, Chairman

Connie Bechdolt

Judy Boswell

Pastor Glen Brock

Lou Carroll

Olivia Cooke

Ronnie Faulkner

Elaine Holmquist

Tammy Narron

Jeany O’Neal

Joan Watson