On Wed. evening, June 28, 1972, a small group of families met for prayer in the home of Ricky and Catherine Snelgrove and discussed starting a Baptist church on Lake O’ the Pines. After sensing in their hearts that God wanted them to begin a church fellowship, they began searching for a building in which to hold worship services. During the same week, the superintendent of Jefferson school district granted them permission to hold church services at the old Victory School, an old school building which was located on the corner of Hwy. 729 and Victory School Rd.
To be ready for their first church service the group spent the next several days cleaning the building and waxing the floors. The fellowship finished the clean-up and held their first church service there that Sunday, July 2, 1972, with Bro. John Whitton, Jr. preaching the message. The church later held its first business meeting on Aug. 9 and called Bro. Whitton as pastor.
The First Baptist Church of Jefferson was asked to sponsor the fellowship as a satellite mission. By doing this, the fellowship was able to receive some financial support from the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Once this occurred, the name of the fellowship was changed to Lake O’ the Pines Baptist “Mission”.
In December 1972, the mission purchased two acres of land to build the church’s first building. The property was the property located adjacent to the west of the church’s current property. By April 22, 1973, the church approved the new building plans and awarded the contract to Weldon Hampton for $35,400. Construction would soon begin on the new property, but God had a different piece of property in mind.
The land just east of the mission’s newly acquired property was the site of the old miniature golf course, owned at that time by Mr. Lake, a Christian businessman. Mr. Lake realized that his property was more suitable for a church site, so he graciously offered to swap his two acres with the two acres the mission had just purchased. The mission approved the exchange on June 6, 1973, and began construction on the new church building at the place where the church currently sits. The exchange of property has proven to be a blessing to the church, since the creek behind the original property has been progressively washing out, causing a great deal of concern to the property owner.
The mission later celebrated its one-year anniversary on July 1, 1973, with its first service being held in the new sanctuary on Feb. 3, 1974. A Dedication Service and Open House was then held on March 24, complete with an old-fashioned ‘Dinner On the Grounds’.
Bro. Whitton resigned as pastor in June 1974 to attend seminary in Fort Worth. Bro. Don Falke was called to serve as interim and was later called as pastor in October.
Finding housing around the lake for the pastor was often difficult, so when the bank in Jefferson notified the church about a home located in the Sharon Acres sub-division that had been repossessed, the church seized the opportunity and purchased it on Sept. 17, 1975, for the remaining balance of the note, which was $21,500. In the mid-90s, the men of the church added a two-car garage to the property. Since that time the parsonage’s property has been extended to now include the adjacent property to the east. Faithful members Bill and Nelle Woodard donated it to the church in Sept. 2000 after deciding to move away from the area.
In December 1975, the mission began plans to organize into a self-supporting church. They accomplished that goal and held their Organization Day Service on July 6, 1976, officially becoming Lake O’ the Pines Baptist “Church”.
Bro. Falke resigned in April 1978 and Dr. Harvey Lewis from East Texas Baptist College, now E.T.B.U., became interim pastor. One month later Bro. Curtis Blake was called to pastor the church.
In 1980 the church held its 8th Anniversary Celebration which included a Note Burning Ceremony. The note on the building had already been paid in full.
Bro. Blake resigned in August 1981 and Dr. Harvey Lewis served as Interim Pastor once again. Bro. James Flynn became Pastor in January 1982.
During the summer of 1984, the men of the church built an annex building consisting of a kitchen and fellowship hall/classroom space. The construction of the 20′ X 40′ building was supervised by church member R. B. Garrett. When Bro. Garrett passed away Christmas Day 1985, the church family decided to honor him by naming the building The R. B. Garret Memorial Fellowship Hall, now simply known as Garrett Hall. Mrs. Joan Garrett continued to be a faithful member of the church until her death on June 12, 2003.
Pastor James Flynn resigned on June 10, 1987, and Bro. D. Cole Harmel came as pastor on Sept. 1, 1987, serving until March 1991.
In April 1991 Bro. J. W. Best was called as interim pastor. The church family grew to love J. W. and his wife Madge so much that they decided to award Bro. Best the title of Pastor Emeritus.
Bro. Elbert W. Reavis was called as pastor on March 15, 1992. It was during that time that the church began looking toward building a new education building and fellowship hall. A Groundbreaking Ceremony was held on May 9, 1993, for the construction of the new 44′ X 96′ building, with the work beginning May 31. Rev. Joe Anderson and Bennie Biddy led the workers, while Anne Slusher served as the building chairperson. T. H. Weatherly served as inspector of the construction.
In addition to the church’s members, several others also helped on the project, including retired Baptist men from the area and the Enon Builders — a group of volunteer builders from the Enon Baptist Association. The new building was completed in Sept. at $80,000 and a Dedication Service was held October 3, 1993.
In July 1994, an asphalt parking lot was laid along the west side of the new education building. By Aug. 1994, the bank note on the new building was paid in full with a Note Burning Ceremony held Oct. 23, 1994. The Lord had provided the means to pay for the building in only 15 months.
During this same time, the church also acquired some additional property located directly behind the church’s two acres. The property was owned by Mr. Golden, who fully intended to sell the property. Once he discovered that his prospective buyer merely wanted the property as a place to store old junked cars, he decided to donate the property to the church.
Pastor Elbert Reavis resigned May 14, 1997, and J. W. Best was once again called to serve as Interim Pastor. Bro. Dennis Janz was called as pastor on Nov. 9, 1997.
During this time, on the national level the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) was going through a time of great spiritual renewal, as many were calling the convention back to its more conservative roots. The changes on the national level were also noted on the state level here in Texas where many Southern Baptists were prompted to withdraw from the state convention, called the Baptist General Convention of Texas (BGCT) to form a new state convention that would align itself more fully with the core values and theology held by the SBC, as outlined in 2000 revised edition of The Baptist Faith and Message, the doctrinal statement of faith held by the SBC.
On Feb. 10, 1999 after reviewing the core values of both state conventions, Lake O’ the Pines Baptist Church voted 28 – 2 in favor of aligning themselves with the new state convention, called the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention (SBTC). The church continues to financially support the Cooperative Program of the SBC through the SBTC.
Bro. Janz resigned in May 2000 and Dr. Wallace Watkins, head of the Spiritual Life Dept. of E.T.B.U ., was called to serve as an intentional interim. Bro. Watkin’s spiritual guidance and leadership were a blessing to the church as the church went through a time of difficult transition.
Bro. Crispin Bradsher, a recent seminary graduate, was called as pastor beginning May 1, 2001, and continues to serve as pastor as of this writing.
In Aug. 2002, the church began a renovation project on the sanctuary with Bill Hammond leading the project. The plans included adding a large foyer onto the front of the building, covering the original paneling with dry-wall, and creating better access to the main seating area by removing the back interior wall of the sanctuary. A small overflow section which once served as the church’s original kitchen was also removed, along with the main hallway and one classroom, providing a larger overflow seating area.
To add-on the new foyer, the front porch of the church had to be removed. Once the old wooden truss from the front porch was removed, Mr. Tom Day took it and used it to make the cross currently located on the front of the building and the three smaller crosses located in the baptistery.
Once the renovation of the sanctuary was completed, the church graciously gave the old pews, prayer rails, and pulpit to Mt. Olive Baptist Church, a needy church near Linden that was currently using wood planks for pews. The pews were replaced with interlocking padded chairs which are arranged as needed for worship services, special programs, weddings, or funerals.
The Rededication Service was held on Sept. 22, 2002, in celebration of the newly remodeled sanctuary. Bro. Crispin invited Dr. Wallace Watkins to attend and bring the message for this celebration.
In 2004 the church purchased a large commercial playground apparatus from Ruth’s Re-Sale shop for $400. After an anonymous giver donated some additional money the work on the playground began, headed by Jim Oaks and Bill Hammond and coordinated by Crystal Bradsher.
By April 2005, the floor of Garrett Hall was in much need of repair. As the church began to consider the cost of replacing the building, God provided enough money through an anonymous giver which enabled the church to do a thorough structural renovation on the floor of the building. The building was also raised to help prevent future structural problems. The project was headed by John and Lois Stanford as Jerry and Peggy McClendon and many others helped along the way.
On Sunday, Aug. 14, 2005, the Short Range / Long Range Planning Committee recommended that the church build two 20′ X 40′ education buildings, each having two classrooms. This would provide more opportunity for the adult classes to expand and multiply, plus provide some larger rooms for VBS and other activities. The church voted unanimously in favor of the project for a total cost of $30,000. The materials were delivered on-site within three days and the work started immediately, headed by Bill Hammond and George Morris.
This is simply a brief history of Lake O’ the Pines Baptist Church. The Lord has done many other wonderful things through the years which have not been mentioned in this writing, but hopefully these things will serve as a reminder to everyone that God will continue to work through His people when they are faithful and obedient to Him.
Respectfully submitted,
Pastor Crispin Bradsher
Sept. 1, 2005
