Church History

Sometime in 1915, Rev. Ben Campbell held a bush arbor revival in the sawmill village of Kennebec in southern Wake County. (The name Kennebec came from the Kennebec River in Maine from which Mr. Kemp Johnson, who owned the sawmill, bought ice for summer use.) On October 24, 1915, the Rev. Campbell, with assistance of the Rev. James Monroe Holloman, organized a Missionary Baptist Church to be called Kennebec. The following were baptized by the Rev. James Archie Campbell: Mr. C.E. Smith, Mrs. A. Healon Smith, Mrs. Susie Revels, and Mr. and Mrs. W.H. Didley.

On April 14, 1916 Mr. Kemp Johnson and his wife, Alice, gave about one acre of land to be used for church purposes. A building was constructed on the property. On September 24, 1916 a resolution to join the Little River Association was passed.

In the early days, the church was very strict on its members. Should a member fail to attend two monthly meetings, held on Saturdays, a committee investigated reasons for the absence. Church records indicate that many members were investigated by the committee. In the 1920’s male members were asked to pay $1 dues and female members paid .25 cent dues per month for the pastor’s salary.

With growth, several organizations were started to meet the needs of the members. The Women’s Missionary Union was organized in 1936; the first Vacation Bible School was held in 1937; G.A.’s began in 1960; and R.A.’s and Brotherhood organizations were initiated.

The original church, located on Highway 55, was remodeled three times. On March 25, 1950 the stone that was once used as an altar was placed on the left corner of the church the date “1915” was engraved on one side representing the date of the church’s origination.

Rev. Virlon H. Griner was called in 1957 to be the church’s first full-time pastor. The church purchased a house in Angier on April 29, 1969 to serve as the parsonage.

On March 20, 1970, Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Johnson sold 3.29 acres of land to the church for building a new church building. Construction involved many of the church members. A groundbreaking service at the new church lot was held on November 21, 1971. On Easter Sunday, April 22, 1973, a march was held from the old church building to its current location. A history of the church was placed behind the corner stone of the new building that summer. A dedication service for the new building was held on September 9, 1973.

From 1973 until the year 2000 the church remained in the same building. In Fall of 2000 the church began construction on a new fellowship hall. This building was completed in March 2001 and dedicated in April 2001. The church now enjoys wonderful times of fellowship and many fine meals are shared in our fellowship hall.

Recently, the church has added many new ministries as well. In 2001 the church began the FAITH program, an outreach and visitation program that helps us reach out to our neighbors. In 2002 we started the AWANA program (www.awana.org) for outreach to children. Since then we have seen a significant increase in our children and many activities have been added for children as well. In fact, the church is currently raising money to construct a new building exclusively for children’s ministry. In 2003 the church hired its first full time youth minister and as a result we have seen several youth added to our church. In 2004 we began the Baptist Men and now they sponsor monthly outreach and missions programs. Then in 2005 we began MOPS (www.mops.org) as an outreach to the mothers of preschoolers in our area. We now have 20 moms who meet twice a month for a little down time to enjoy one another’s company while their children do crafts and learn about Jesus.

Since 1915, Kennebec Baptist Church has ministered to people in the area of Southern Wake and Northern Harnett counties. We are excited about what God is doing in our church and look forward with great expectation to what He will do with us in the future.