Celebrating 175 years
By Becky Barclay
Published in News on April 18, 2018 6:00 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
First Baptist Church of Goldsboro is celebrating its 175th anniversary this year. The church has a rich history.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
The chapel houses a podium and chairs from the original church building.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Church historian Lola Delbridge points to a photo of the original church, built in 1858. First Baptist has since moved and several additions now adjoin it.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
A corner of the history room is dedicated to Troop 6 of the Tuscarora Council, which produced 96 Eagle Scouts.
First Baptist Church of Goldsboro has a history full of significant events that has made it what it is today.
Church members are celebrating the 175th anniversary of the church, having been founded in 1843.
"When Mr. and Mrs. Charles Nelson moved from New Bern to Waynesborough in 1840, there was little or no spiritual interest in the town, so he organized the first and only Sunday school in Wayne County," said 58-year member, Lola S. Delbridge, who has been church historian for about that long.
"Services were held in the Free Meeting Hall, which became First Baptist Church in 1843."
Delbridge said when Waynesborough was incorporated as Goldsborough in 1847, First Baptist Church met in the Academy, the town's first school.
The first church building was constructed in 1858 and stood where the big education building now stands.
"It had the only steeple in town for 25 years and also the town's first church bell, which is still in use today," Delbridge said. "It was a wooden structure with a 60 foot steeple."
The church sanctuary was built in 1912 by W.J. Mathews.
"He was also the first person in Goldsboro to own an automobile," Delbridge said as a side note. "He had become a member of the church in 1897 and married the daughter of a deacon. He attended regularly until his death at the age of 97."
The church chapel was dedicated in 1968 to Mrs. Laura Harrell, who was a devoted member of First Baptist. She was the 19th president of the Women's Missionary Union, and also organized a WMU is several churches, Delbridge said.
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Another milestone for the church was starting the first kindergarten in Goldsboro in 1946, Delbridge said.
"After its first successful year, five other churches joined to form Protestant Kindergarten of Goldsboro, which is still in existence today," Delbridge said.
Church members are also proud of the grandfather clock that had belonged to Sen. and Mrs. Hinson Barnes, a gift from their daughters.
A visit to First Baptist's history room is a trip into history.
It's a home for pictures, scrapbooks, important historical documents, books, church newsletters, bulletins, church directories, mementos and scout records and materials from First Baptist Troop 6.
Hanging on one wall in the history room is a photograph of Andy Griffith and his wife, Barbara.
Before becoming famous on TV and in the movies, Griffith was the adult choir director at First Baptist during the school months of 1951/52. His salary was a whopping $15 per week back then.
One of the church's oldest members -- for 75 years -- who also sang in the choir for 40 years, Annie Laurie Wharton, 97, recalls when Griffith directed the choir.
"One morning he was scared to sing a solo," she said. "It was Easter and he was going to sing. I was coming to Sunday school and I caught him out there at the walkway between the two buildings pacing and pacing and pacing.
"I asked him what the problem was. He said he was singing a solo that morning and was nervous. But he did it well."
During the church's 160th anniversary celebration, there was an Andy Griffith Night.
"We had fishing tackles and people portraying Opie and other main characters from the 'Andy Griffith Show'," she said. "It was great fun."
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Delbridge also recalls various servicemen from 19 different states who would come to services at the church in 1942.
"Our pastor A.J. Smith would cook breakfast for them on Sunday mornings," she said. "A lot of them sang in our choir, and one of them even played bagpipes. Even during the Civil War, some of the Federalists worshipped in our church."
And it was a First Baptist Church pastor, the Rev. A.J. Smith, who started the first soup kitchen in Goldsboro during World War II, Delbridge said.
"After serving as pastor for 24 years, Smith died following surgery," she said. "In December 1950, a Smith Memorial Day was held and the church bell tolled on the hour, followed by a period of worship using one of his recorded devotionals."
To remember and honor the church's past, there are thee stained glass windows in the Laura Harrell chapel from the first building. Also from the first building are three wooden chairs and a pulpit.
Members are not only celebrating the church's 175 anniversary this year, but they are also celebrating senior minister Dr. Glenn Phillips' 20 years with the church.
"Being the oldest church, formed officially before anybody else, I think it shows a deep commitment to God for a long, long time, and I think that commitment has been evidenced by many community leaders throughout the years in this congregation, and more importantly, in the last 20 years," Phillips said.
He said First Baptist has made shifts from what most people call an institutional church to a missional one.
"That means not being so worried about our program and what we do, but being out in the community and helping," Phillips said. "For one instance, we have the Warm the World ministry.
"And we've opened our church to various groups in the community who are also helping others. In the last three years, we've hosted the United Way kickoff breakfast and we furnish the breakfast. And we recently hosted the Partnership for Children meeting. We are saying, 'You are important to our community and we want to help you.'
"If they are a group helping the community, we see them as our co-workers and we want to help them."
The church has for a long time had a prayer shawl ministry for its members. But a few years ago, someone suggested they also make the shawls for cancer patients at Southeastern Medical Oncology Center. The members went from making about a dozen or so shawls a year to about 30 a month.
"For me, the biggest shift in my 20 years here is that we still worship and study and have programs for all ages, but we've seen that the church should not be a place to just come into, but send us out to help people and be Christ's presence in the world," Phillips said. "That has kept me excited about being a minister."
Delbridge said First Baptist Church is a very special place to worship.
"It's heritage, the people who've made it what it is," she said. "And the family environment here. I think we truly love each other. And we work together."