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I am the light of the world,
whoever follows me will never walk in
darkness, but will have the light of life.
John 8:12
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Falling
River Baptist Church, 1792-1992
Strength
from the past . . .
Hope for
the future!
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The Declaration of
Independence was only sixteen years old, and the treaty which
had ended the Revolutionary War and established the U. S. as a
nation separate from Great Britain had been signed only nine
years earlier. The new little nation, of the United States,
stretched west only to the Mississippi River and did not
include Florida in that year of 1792 when Falling River
Baptist Church was established. This original group of
believers seems to have consisted of various protestant dissenters from the Church of England, but
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This is a picture of
Old Falling River Church. It was built in the late fifties or early
sixties and was torn down in 1911 and 1912. |
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indications are
that the majority were of the Baptist persuasion.
Some time just
before the War Between the States, Falling built a new house
of worship for its 63 members. The building was used as both a
school and a church. Though the membership
decreased
during the devastation of the war, by the end of the
Reconstruction period, in 1877, the number of members had
increased to 115.
The first
Woman's Missionary Union was organized at Falling in 1890.
Many ladies saved money from selling eggs to help finance
missions work.
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Centennial Picture
October 1892
In
about 1786 a loosely congregation, mostly Baptist, built a
house of worship on a small lot of land in the southeast
corner of Campbell County, about one mile from the Charlotte
County line, and about two miles from the Halifax line, about
three-fourths of a mile from Falling River and joining the
Patrick Henry Estate.
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Though money
was scarce among the farm family members of Falling in the
first years of the 20th century, they were able to pay the
minister $150 per year for preaching two Sundays per month.
The membership also continued to help others, giving five
bushels of wheat and $4 to "a sister church member"
in need. They were also able to build a new church building
for $1320 in 1910.
It was during
World War I that the church purchased its first organ and 75
hymnbooks. Also, the first Baptist Young People's Union was
organized.
The
"Roaring 20's" was a decade of drastic changes in
fashions, music and lifestyles. Still, the Falling community
lived life as usual, experiencing few of the changes going on
around them. Enrollment was 299. One innovation that did take
place was the installation of a light plant at the church for
a cost of $330. This plant would generate light for night
services.
Missions
efforts were also expanded in the 1920's by the forming of
several new groups--the Girls' Auxiliary, Royal Ambassadors,
and the Sunbeams. By 1925, church membership had reached 250.
With the increase in numbers, seven Sunday School rooms were
added to the church building.
Though
thousands lost their jobs and homes during the Great
Depression of the 1930's, the Falling community, being largely
farmers, weathered the period fairly well except for
struggling through severe drought. Enrollment rose to 327, and
what was possibly the first Homecoming Day for the church was
held in November of 1932. In 1935, Elton McDowell became
Falling's first "native son" to enter the ministry.
At Falling
River, as in the rest of the United States, the decade of the
1940's was largely dominated by the events leading up to and
including World War II and the aftermath of the war.
In the early
1940's a large number of young men of the church were called
into military service. They distinguished themselves and made
their church proud by the manner in which they served their
country. Like other churches and communities during these war
years, Falling River was deeply concerned with and involved in
the war effort. The church enrollment was 393.
Falling
participated in a day of prayer called for by President
Roosevelt in January of 1942, changed services to "War
Time" (now call Daylight Savings Time), appointed a
committee to correspond with the men in the military and to
give each a Bible, and purchased a plaque listing members who
served in the armed forces. Continuing to minister to those in
need, an Emergency Committee and a Relief Committee were
formed to lend assistance.
In 1947 and
1948 a new organ with chimes was purchased and stained glass
windows were added.
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With the end of
World War II, as the U.S. entered the 1950's with the Korean
War, the Cold War, and many changes in lifestyle, Falling
River Baptist Church was
also changing.
With an increased enrollment of 480, additional
Sunday School rooms were built, a vestibule added, and a new
piano purchased. By 1959, with the retirement of
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Falling River Baptist Church,
1950's |
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Rev. Booker,
the church built its first parsonage and called Rev. R. E.
McDowell as its first full-time pastor.
As the 1960's
brought in the escalation of the war in Vietnam,
"Hippies" and "Flower Children", Falling
entered its first full-time pastorate with excitement and
expectation. Printed bulletins were used for the first time,
Youth Week began, a rotating system of electing deacons was
established, Laymen's Day was observed, a folk musical was
written and performed by the youth choir, and a new
educational building was begun.
During the
1970's the new education building was finished and paid for,
and a building fund was started for a new sanctuary. There was
also a great increase in youth activities including the
musical, "Alleluia", performed at many different
churches.
As President
Ronald Reagan led the nation toward a goal of renewed strength
in the world in the 1980's, Falling finished and paid for
their new sanctuary. A tape ministry was begun, a church
newsletter printed, another "native son", Lynn
Marstin, was ordained to preach, and the church actively
supported and was involved in the Appomattox Association's new
migrant ministry.
During the
high-tech 1990's, and as the U.S. displayed its strength
during Operation Desert Storm, the church was making plans for
it 1992 Bicentennial Celebration. This was a time of great
joy, thanking God for the way He had blessed Falling River
Baptist for two hundred years. The "Happy Hearts"
was begun for senior adults, a Food Pantry was set up, several
members served on missions teams, Children's Church was
started, and mission work increased through a summer
Children's Bible Club, Operation Christmas Child, disaster
relief for hurricane flood victims, and a new puppet ministry
and hand bell choir.
Falling River
Baptist Church has seen many changes in her 200 years of
existence--nine wars and then times of peace, years of drought
and years of abundance, economic boom and the Great
Depression, times of disagreement and times of unity, periods
of laughter and periods of tears. How could generations of
such divergent people withstand these great changes and create
from a tiny rural church a relatively large church-family
which is actively involved in community, state and world
missions? They couldn't! Only the fact that this church is
built on the unshakable foundation of the love, the blessing
and the leadership of God the Father, Jesus The Son, and the
Holy Spirit can explain the church's continual existence and
growth.
"Unless
the Lord builds a house, the builder's work is useless."
Psalm 127:1
Falling River Baptist Church
Bicentennial Celebration
Past Pastors
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