History

Gospel Baptist Tabernacle was established in 1953 by 47 charter members with Dr. James A. Lees as the pastor. Throughout the next few years, the church held tent meetings within the county, and more membership grew. We were housed in a former Methodist church building on Main Street for several years under the pastorate of Brother Lee. When he was called to pastor a church in Indiana, Brother Art Jones took over as our pastor. Under Pastor Jones, the church bought land and built the church we still worship in today. As the church family grew in the early 90s, the Lord blessed us with a two-story fellowship hall, with the second floor being for classrooms. Minor renovations were done to the sanctuary at that time. In 2021, we were devastated by the passing of our Pastor, David Carroll, from Covid19. But God, in his mercy and love, saw fit to keep our doors open and made a path to continue our ministry. Under the new leadership of Pastor Eric White, we completed a major project in both the fellowship hall and sanctuary in 2023. In the fellowship hall, we created a Youth Retreat for Bible study and youth activities. We also converted three classrooms into accommodations for visiting pastors, missionaries, and all visitors in the work of Christ. The spacious sanctuary was treated to a beautiful makeover that included lighting and a sound system. Vacation Bible School has been an important part of our history as a way to introduce God's saving grace to our children and to those who are unchurched. We also, as a body of believers, have had special appreciation Sundays for our police, firefighters, and public servants in our community; a tradition we hope to continue.