Church History
A school was originally located where the Church now stands. It was named High Point, and that name remains the name of the Church to this day. Rev. T.H. Francisco (1917-1919) and Rev. Phillips held a tent revival, marking the beginning of the Church on the school grounds. Several people accepted Christ and were baptized in the river.
Oscar and Daisy Smith, Ernest and Cappy Hazelwood, and some of the others decided that they wanted to raise money to build a Church. Mrs. Teresa Shelton crocheted a bed-spread out of tobacco twine and sold it to Cara Wigington and gave the money to the building fund. Oscar Smith even rode a train to Martinsville to get donations.
Sam Newman donated the land for the building to be erected. Arthur Newman donated the land for the cemetery. John Hazelwood gave timber to be cut for the Church, and Will Martin sawed the timber into lumber. The members and neighbors gave their time and labor to get the timber to the mill. They continued to work faithfully until the Church was built, by the carpenter John Andy Martin and the members and neighbors of the community. The Church was organized in 1917 by Stuart Baptist Church. The first pastor was T.H. Francisco, the deacons were J.A. Aelonus, J.R. Hazelwood, and George Nowlin; W.T. Fulcher was treasurer and Nellie Gray was Clerk.
Rev. Estoee from Stuart Baptist Church came and held services on Sunday afternoon. The pay was $5.00 per service at this time. He had three Churches to serve. Bill Baughn and Jess Flippin taught Sunday School on Sunday afternoon without pay. They wanted to help keep the doors open. It has been said that Stuart Baptist Church is the Mother of High Point Baptist Church. There were eight pastors between the organization of the Church in 1917 until 1954. These were; C.T. Taylor (1919), Sam Branch (1933-1934), A.Z. Shoemaker (1934-1939), J.O. Belton (1939-1946), Fred Journey (1946-1947), Rev. Flemming (1947-1948), Charlie Simmons (1949-1951), and Clarence Marshall (1951-1954).
In addition, there were seven more pastors during the years of 1954 through 1970. They were; Robert A. White (1955-1958), Cabbot Inman (Nov 1958-Dec 1958), Grady Schuler (1959-1961), Charles Hulin (1961-1963), James Handy (1964-1966), Allen Mason (1966-1968), and David Hill (1968-1969).
In 1970, Bobby Steagall came and the Church was remodeled and bathrooms were added. Central air-conditioning was installed, new pews were purchased, and carpeting was put down. The parking lot was paved. Between 1985 and 1986, several pastors filled in until Tom Romley came in 1986; these were, Rev. Swimmer, J.C. Raper, Clarence Marshall, and James Handy. A utility building was built and stained windows were installed. Rev. Rumley was killed in an auto accident in 1989. Berlin Joyce came to pastor the Church in 1989 and a fellowship hall was built. Bill Breen replaced Berlin Joyce in 1994. Bill Breen stayed until 1996. Amos Turner came to pastor in 1997 and stayed until he retired in 1998 when he retired.
In 1999, Wayne Moore came to be our current pastor at High Point Baptist Church. The Church has grown dynamically with many new families and youth joining the Church, a number of families having children, and a member of High Point moving on to pastor a Church (Shaun Draughn, Collinstown Presbyterian Church). The presence and work of the Lord has been evident in the Church as we have faced many personal, community, and national trials during the time Wayne has been with us. The Lord has blessed High Point tremendously in recent years through Pastor Wayne Moore, his wife, and their children; may he be our Pastor for a long time to come.