Church History

1837 – Church organized, 35 members

1841 – First met on Five Notch Road; later at school house east of present location.  Land for church donated by Thomas Vaughan; Mrs. Thomas Vaughan first Sunday School teacher.

1843 – Agreed to conduct ordinance of feet washing next communion.

1845 – Voted at July conference to dissolve in peace and harmony; at August conference voted to rescind this and “to server the Lord as best we can.”  Had 20 black slave members.

1849 – Constructed second church building at present site; date of first building is not known.

1850 – Sold old church building to highest bidder for $7.  Resolved that each member pay at least 10 cents for foreign missions and 5 cents for domestic missions.

1851 – Housekeeping given to lowest bidder, $1.90 a year; to sweep every month and scour the floor twice.

1855 – Each male member to pay $1 per year into treasury to meet expenses.

1896 – Erected present church building; sold old building to highest bidder; paid pastor $48.25 for the year.

1901 – Allowed community to build school house on church grounds.

1902 – Housekeeping let for $4 a year; including cleaning yard, keeping spring cleaned out, bucket of water for each service, and lamps cleaned.

1906 – Vestibule and Steeple added to church; Vestibule later divided into two Sunday School rooms and entrance hall.

1907 – Additional land purchased to add to the cemetery.  Became a member of the Carrollton Baptist Association in the early teens; previously in other associations.

1932 – Church gave $3.33 to missions, $3 for minutes, Pastor’s salary of $57.70 for the year.

1948-1949 – Five brick Sunday School rooms added to rear of church building.

1951 – Renovated sanctuary ceiling, and floors; new carpet, pulpit, baptistry and choir loft, refinished pews.

1957 – Basement fellowship hall, kitchen, and Sunday School rooms completed.

1960-1962 – Deep well drilled and bathrooms installed.

1963 – Built pastorium; and first pastor on the field.

1967 – Purchased new pews, pulpit furniture, and wall-to-wall carpeting.

1974 – 314 members, $15,600 annual budget, no church indebtedness.

1975 – Bricked exterior and replaced steeple.

1976 – Installed central heat/air system

1979 – Added cushions to pews

1981 – Purchased bus and began Sunday school ministry, cemented sidewalks, and added shrubbery

1982 – Circular cement drive and front lawn added to church landscape

1992 – Church agreed to change the name to Centralhatchee First Baptist Church

1997 – Remodeled the sanctuary, replaced pews, and moved the choir loft to the center of the platform. Removed baptistry from the floor.

1998 – Purchased grand piano

1999 – Purchased church van. Remodeled pastorium

2000 – Began planning stages of a new addition of fellowship hall and upstairs class space.

2003 – Purchased land across from the church

2009 – Purchased additional land adjacent to the cemetery.

2012 – Bus ministry grew to two buses and two vans.
2013 – Purchased new pastorium.
2014 – Increased sanctuary size which allowed the expansion of 100 new seats, added new choir loft, and restrooms, expanded the Youth room, added Sunday school rooms, choir warm-up room, and relocated the church office and Pastor’s office to a larger space.

2019 – Purchased shuttle bus to use for our Adult ministries.

2022 – Updated interior of the sanctuary with new carpet and chairs.