Brief History of Buies Creek First Baptist Church

Brief History of Buies Creek First Baptist Church

Buies Creek First Baptist Church began in 1875 as Buies Creek Baptist Church with the Rev. Mr. Allen Betts as pastor. One year prior to the actual formation of the church, a Sunday School was begun in a small schoolhouse located near the present church. A local couple, Mr. and Mrs. James Gregory, donated the land on which the first church was built in 1876 from lumber cut and hauled from the old Reuben Matthews Mill. When the congregation outgrew its original building, it relocated to its present site.

The name Buies Creek was first applied to the church. About the turn of the century, when Dr. J. A. Campbell was serving as the church's second pastor, the town took its name from the church and became known as Buie's Creek. The apostrophe was dropped from the state map in the mid 1900's. The word "First" was added to the church's name in 1968.

The present sanctuary used by the church was started in 1913 under the leadership of Dr. Campbell and completed in 1914. A parsonage was built in 1947 with the church's third pastor, Dr. A. Paul Bagby as pastor. The parsonage was sold in 1995 and a housing allowance was given to the pastor.

Other pastors who have served the church family along with Rev. Allen Betts and Dr. J. A. Campbell have been Dr. J. William Angel, Rev. E Weldon Johnson, Rev. Charles B. Howard (the church's first full-time pastor who served for eleven years), Dr. A. Paul Bagby, Dr. John Rogers, and Dr. J. Michael Simmons, the present pastor who has served since 1995. Each pastor has contributed in his own way to leading the church forward in its ministry to the community and the world. Many of its pastors have served either as a professor or an adjunct instructor at Campbell University.

The church has always had close ties with Campbell University since it began as Buies Creek Academy in 1887. The church is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, The Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, The Little River Baptist Association, and The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Throughout its history, the church has had a great desire to take the gospel to the world. Mission projects are conducted regularly in both the United States and many countries around the world. In addition, the church has established a scholarship to the Campbell University Divinity School.

It is the belief of the congregation that God called Buies Creek First Baptist Church into existence and placed it in a unique location to minister to the community, the university, and the world. With Campbell University across the street, the world has come to the door of the church. With a rich heritage behind it, the church is moving forward into the future carrying the gospel of Jesus Christ to everyone it can, seeking to honor His name.