Our History

 

Main Street Baptist Church had its origins in 1963 when a group of pastors in the Green River Baptist Association saw a need for an evangelistic work to begin on the east side of Spindale. A core team was created and they met in Jolley's Cafeteria for several months to pray and strategize.

 

In June of 1964, Eastside Baptist Church was born. They covenanted together with 36 charter members and elected Rev. CC Matheny as their pastor. After about a year of service, they made two significant changes: Rev CC Matheny willingly stepped to the side for Pastor Guy Johnson to come in as their Senior Pastor, and they changed their name to Main Street Baptist Church.

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Main Street grew rapidly in the 70's and 80's. Guy Johnson's evangelistic zeal was contagious and there were a great number of conversions in these pivotal years. They quickly outgrew the old brick building they were meeting in (currently the church social hall), and they broke ground on a new auditorium in 1977 to seat 600 congregants. These were remarkable years of ministry in the life of Main Street, and people still talk today about Guy Johnson's preaching, as well as the week-long tent revivals that took place on the property. The church also ventured into non-profit ministries on campus, hosting both a Family Care ministry for the elderly and a Day Care ministry for children.

 

After 20 years and 9 months, Pastor Guy Johnson took the call to begin a new work in Danieltown. You can read a full biography of Rev. Guy Johnson here:

 

https://wakespace.lib.wfu.edu/bitstream/handle/10339/69173/MS615_Johnson_GuyE_001.pdf

 

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After a brief (but significant) time of interim by Rev. EC Revis, Rev. Curtis Gilstrap came to lead the flock in 1986. Gilstrap served faithfully for 7 years and was known for his doctrinal preaching and an aim toward Christian maturity.

 

Main Street had ordained many men to the Gospel ministry who were equipped to preach and teach the Word. After Gilstrap’s retirement, they elected church member and reverend, Danny Black, as their interim pastor. He was then elected as their permanent Pastor in October, 1993. Unfortunately, Pastor Black was asked to resign two years later, in October 1995.

 

The church struggled to find peace over the next several years, but made great financial strides to pay off debt. They sold the day care facility in 1996 and became debt free in 1997, faithfully led by interim Pastor Paul Brock, a long time friend of Guy Johnson. They celebrated with a note burning service!

 

Rev. Jack Pennington was elected shortly in 1997, but retired in 1998. This made room for a young Fruitland graduate named Rick Brewer to come in and accept his first and only church as pastor.

 

Pastor Rick, the church’s 6th pastor, was a faithful man, calling the church to return to its evangelistic and missional roots. Main Street grew steadily during the 2000's, making contemporary changes under Brewer's leadership and taking a number of stateside mission trips to do evangelism and service projects. After several short pastorates, Pastor Rick blessed our people with a lengthy 17 year tenure.

 

Pastor Rick retired in 2015, which began another time of difficult transitions for the congregation. After almost 2 decades, they were again in a crisis of identity. The church had called Dale DuBose to serve as youth minister in the summer of 2015, and he continued to support the church after Pastor Rick's resignation. In the fall of 2016, the church officially elected 23 year old Dale DuBose as the church's 7th pastor.

 

The next 5 years were challenging, and the church experienced further decline upon the arrival of Covid-19 and the global pandemic that followed. Pastor Dale called the church to "replant" in the fall of 2020, leading the church into a year long season of reflection, prayer, and strategy. They officially reconstituted in October 2021 as an elder-led, congregational church, partnering with the Pillar Network and adopting both the BFM2000 and the 1689 LBCF. The church had 27 charter members and called Jay Poole to serve as their first lay elder.

 

Since 2021, the Lord has blessed us mightily. We are bearing the fruit of the men and women who have labored before us, and the Lord is also honoring our obedience to follow Scripture's blueprints for the form and function of a local church. God has brought new life to this congregation. Christ is building His church, and the gates of Hell have not prevailed. The best years of ministry are still ahead of us. Come and join us in our mission for God's glory.

 

 

You can read more about our story here in this article published by the BaptistPress.

 

North Carolina church ‘unrecognizable’ after challenging replant | Baptist Press