About Us

OUR BELIEFS.....OUR COVENANT.....OUR HISTORY.....OUR NAME

 

Our Beliefs

• The Bible: The Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is the record of God's revelation of Himself to man. It has God as its author, salvation for its end, and truth without mixture of error, for its matter.
• God: There is one infinite, personal God. The eternal God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence or being.
• Man: Man was created by the special act of God, in His own image, and is the crowning work of His creation. By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image, and in that Christ died for man, therefore every person possesses dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.
• Salvation: Salvation involves the redemption of the whole person and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, sanctification and glorification.
• The Church: A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a local body of baptized believers who are associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel. The New Testament speaks also of the church as the body of Christ which includes all of the redeemed of all ages.
• Baptism: Christian Baptism is the immersion of a believer in water. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in a crucified, buried and risen Savior, the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old life and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus.
• Lord’s Supper: The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby Christians memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate his return.
• Evangelism and Missions: It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations seeking constantly to win the lost to Christ by personal effort.
• Last Things: God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly. The dead will be raised; Christ will judge everyone into righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell. The righteous will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.

 

Church Covenant

• Having been led, as we believe, by the Spirit of God, to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior;
• And on the profession of our faith, having been baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
• We do now, in the presence of God, angels and the assembly, most solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with one another, as one body in Christ.
• We engage, therefore, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, to walk together in Christian love; to strive for the advancement of this church, in knowledge, holiness and comfort;
• To promote its prosperity and spirituality, to sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline and doctrines;
• To contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry, the expenses of the church, the relief of the poor and the spread of the gospel through all nations.
• We also engage to maintain family and secret devotions; to religiously educate our children; to seek the salvation of our kindred and acquaintances;
• To walk circumspectly in the world; to be just in our dealings, faithful in our engagements and exemplary in our deportment;
• To avoid all tattling, backbiting and excessive anger;
• To abstain from the sale of and use of intoxicating drinks as a beverage and to be zealous in our efforts to advance the kingdom of our Savior.
• We further engage to watch over one another in brotherly love;
• To remember each other in prayer; to aid each other in sickness and in distress; to cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling and Christian courtesy in speech;
• To be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation and mindful of the rules of our Savior to secure it without delay.
• We moreover engage that when we remove from this place we will, as soon as possible, unite with some other church, where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant and the principles of God's Word.

History

Dr. Ray Roberts, Executive Director of the State Convention of Baptists in Ohio met with Leonard Smith in a restaurant in Zanesville , Ohio . Dr. Roberts learned that Leonard was a Baptist and that there were no Baptist churches in Barnesville. He asked Leonard if he would be willing to start a work in the community.

The Barnesville Baptist Chapel held its first worship service on November 1, 1960 , meeting above Bohandy's Restaurant at 129 West Main Street . This initial worship service was conducted by Rev. Robert Hall, Director of Missions of the Upper Ohio Baptist Association. Five persons were present at this meeting.

A revival was conducted during the second week of November and the evangelist was Rev. Hall. A survey had been taken the last of October to find prospective members. First Baptist Church of Woodsfield (the mother church of Barnesville Baptist Chapel ) helped with the survey and the evangelistic services. Rev. Hall came from Athens , Ohio to preach on Sundays during the months of November and December. John Ashcraft, formerly of Woodsfield, supplied the pulpit on a part-time basis during the early months of 1961. Eldon Fox served the chapel as preacher during the summer of 1961.

Rev. Clay Frazier, pastor at First Baptist Church , Woodsfield, conducted a Vacation Bible School and revival services during June 1961. He was helped in these endeavors by college students working at the Ohio Baptist Assembly at Seneca Lake .

Rev. B. Leon Wilson from Jacksboro , Tennessee was called for a trial sermon on July 12, 1961 . Thirty persons were present for this service. A call was extended to him to become the Bi-vocational pastor. He and his wife, Aleda and two small daughters moved from Tennessee , and he began his duties at Barnesville on August 28, 1961 . Between July 12th and August 28th many that were attending the chapel decided to start a chapel in St. Clairsville because most of them lived in that area. The result of this move left only the families of Leonard Smith and Paul Gregg attending the Barnesville Chapel.

In November 1962 the Chapel moved from above Bohandy's Restaurant to the Roe "storefront" building on West Main Street . Services were held in this building until 1972. In January of that year, the Barnesville Baptist Chapel began worship services in the AME Church building at 240 West South Street .

On April 18, 1978 , the Barnesville Baptist Chapel was constituted into the First Baptist Church of Barnesville with 58 charter members.

On September 1, 1981 , the first Baptist Church made an application for a loan to the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention to purchase a tract of land from Mr. Kenneth McGhee. (Cost of this land was $25,000.) The application was approved and 18 months later the lot was debt free.

Through faithful giving of members and friends the building fund continued to grow and preparation of detailed construction plans began in March 1992.

Rev. Wilson went to be with his Lord on April 20, 1992 . His record of over 31 years of faithful service as the first pastor of the Church will long be remembered. The Church was served by various ministers and lay speakers until the fall of 1993.

The members continued with the existing plans to build a new building. Ground breaking services were held on June 7, 1992 . Construction had begun by the end of the month. David Reynolds of White Oak Texas was the volunteer superintendent of the building crews. Much of the work on the new building was done by the members of First Baptist Church along with volunteer labor from Texas , North Carolina , Alabama , Minnesota , Tennessee and Ohio . Some of the materials and the steeple were made possible by gifts from outside the local church family.

On February 10, 1993 the church called Murray Allen of Marietta, Ohio to serve as interim pastor. He accepted the call and preached his first sermon as interim pastor on February 14, 1993 .

The first service (a praise/thanksgiving service) held in the completed building was April 18, 1993 . A formal dedication service was held May 23, 1993 .

The Church voted on October 6, 1993 to extend a call to Murray Allen to serve as their Bi-vocational pastor. He accepted the call and preached his first sermon as pastor on October 17, 1993 . He and his wife, Geneva , commuted from Marietta each weekend until they built a home on Shady Lane in order to become a part of the Barnesville community and to serve the church more fully.

Rev. Allen served as pastor until his retirement, December 28, 1997 .

The Pastor Search committee recommended at a special called business meeting on Wednesday, August 26, 1998 that the church call Barnesville native, Rodney D. West to serve as Bi-vocational pastor. He and his wife, Patty began their service as pastor and wife on Sunday, September 13, 1998 .

Baptists do not attribute their origin to any man, as do other denominations. Although the name “Baptists” is only a few centuries old, the principles to which Baptists hold has lived from New Testament times. Because they believe that one must first repent of his sins; accept Jesus Christ, God’s Son as his Savior; and then be baptized as a profession of that faith, they were originally referred to as “Anabaptists,” which means “re-baptizers” because they re-baptized those previously sprinkled as infants. The name originally applied in derision, remains today in the shortened form of “Baptists.”

Kenneth Scott Latourette, a most respected church historian, wrote in summary that “Anabaptists were manifestations of a continuing strain in Christianity which had been present from the very beginning and which, before and since the Reformation, has expressed itself in many forms.”

Spiritual Baptist forefathers were sanctified and denominated by their convictions that one must be faithful to the teachings of His Holy Word, the Bible. These individuals and churches never yielded allegiance to or were identified which any church/state hierarchy. Because of their zealous resistance to the religious and political powers of their times, and their opposition to doctrines not aligned with Biblical teachings and principles, countless were persecuted in the severest manner. Many, after suffering, forfeited their lives for the principles set forth in the scriptures they held so dear.

Baptist of the past and present embrace the following truths:

1. The Bible, the inspired Word of God is the ONLY authority in matters of faith and practice.
2. ONLY personal faith in Christ secures salvation, therefore, rejecting infant baptism.
3. The church is composed of believers only who have been baptized on a personal confession of faith in Jesus Christ.
4. Each church is autonomous with decisions being made by the local congregation, not by bishops of potentates.
5. Salvation from sin and the ability to live a life committed to Jesus Christ is dependent on the Holy Spirit – God in action.
6. The Holy Spirit, through study of the Bible, provides direction for each individual.

God has greatly blessed this church with love and grace and a vision to share his blessings with a hurting world. In the past six years this church has almost tripled in attendance. With that has come a tremendous opportunity to share the love of God, through Christ. If you are rich or poor, sick or lonely, or you have come to a point in your life where you know you need a Savior, our doors are open to you. You will always be welcome, just come as you are.

 

This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. Psalm 34:6

… and (they) said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

Acts 116:30-31