Of course, a church is more than a building.
And people, like buildings, need “remodeling.” Join us as we seek to place our lives in the hands of the Master Carpenter of Nazareth.
A short history of our lives in the Master’s hands…
On November 8, 1845, David Sheets, William Perry, Stephen F. Anderson from Baptist chapel Church, William Young and Jane Young from Baptist Union Church, and Phoebe Matheson from Fox Creek Church met at the home of William Young, with the Reverends Richard Jacks and Stephen Ross, for the purpose of organizing a new church, which was named Young’s Chapel Baptist church.
The first church building was located in the bottom land where Bear Branch flows into Big Wilson Creek. By the end of 1847, there were 32 members of the church. Sometime during the 1850s, the church building burned to the ground.
By 1860, the church was moved to a log building in an area known as Oak Grove, later known as the Felix Hash farm, once owned by Dean Parsons. By 1862, the membership totaled 71.
Young’s Chapel was a member of the Jefferson Baptist Association of Ashe County, North Caroline, until 1860; for the next 10 years the church was affiliated with the Lebanon Association of Virginia. When the New River Association was organized in 1870, Young’s Chapel became a member of the group, and is still in the New River Association today.
As early as 1854, the need for a school for the young people of this mountain section had been prominent in the minds of the church and community leaders, and had been discussed at various associational meetings of the churches. Committees were appointed to study the needs and plans for the school. In 1873, William Young and W.C. Parks brought the matter before the New River Association. A resolution was adopted to construct Oak Hill Academy, and the first building was erected in 1875.
The Board of Trustees for Oak Hill Academy were W.C. Parks, Wiley Young, L.N. Perkins, R.W. Young, William Halsey, Greenberry Halsey, and J.L. Sherwood, all members of Young’s Chapel Baptist church. W.C. Fields was also a trustee, and lived at that time in Alleghany Association in North Carolina. He later moved to Mouth of Wilson and became an influential member of the church and school community.
Between 1845 and 1890, the church was served by many pastors, including the Reverends Stephen Ross, W.C. Parks, Armstrong Blevins, James Trivett, J.L. Sherwood, D.S. Huddle, D.L. Harris, and George Burcham.
About 1880, the membership decided to move the church from the log building at Oak Grove to Oak Hill, and to hold all services on the first floor of the school building.
On November 2, 1890, the Reverend J.F. Fletcher, a native of Ashe County, North Carolina, accepted the pastorate of Young’s chapel for a salary of $100 per year. He remained as pastor for 10 years, during which time he organized the first Women’s Missionary Society in the New River Association. Mrs. Newt Young was the first president of the WMU, and later became leader of the WMU for the New River Association. Other early leaders of the women’s organization were Miss Sarah Jane Larue and Mrs. J.F. Fletcher.
Also during the 1890s, Mr. Fletcher led the membership to plan for a new church building. In May, 1899, Mrs. S.N. Young offered to furnish the lumber needed to construct a new building. A committee was chosen to consider specifications, location, and preparations for the new building. They were J.N. Young, A.C. Hash, R.F. Young, Floyd Speaks, and John Halsey.
H. M. Fugate was called as pastor in September, 1900. By the end of 1901, money was on hand to erect the new building. The committee had found a lot for the new church adjacent to the grounds of Oak Hill Academy, on land owned by J.B. Eams and Crockett Halsey. Over the course of several years, building material was acquired and volunteers began to build a new church.
In September of 1904, C.T. Taylor became pastor. In June of 1908, the new church building was dedicated, on a site about 50 feet south of the present location.
J. F. Fletcher became pastor again in July 1908, and served until October, 1912. J.C. Cox and F.L. Cox served between 1912 and 1917; Mr. Fletcher then was pastor for another year, from August of 1917 to October of 1918. The Reverend W.A. Hash, known by all as “Preacher” Hash, was pastor from 1918 to 1925.
In 1925, James Floyd Fletcher was called once more to pastor Young’s Chapel. He served the church until his retirement in 1940. Brother Fletcher served as pastor on four different occasions, for a total of 30 years, between 1890 and 1940. Also, during 38 of those years, he was appointed as a missionary to the mountain area by the State Baptist Conventions of North Carolina and Virginia. In 1945, one year before his death, Mr. Fletcher returned to Young’s Chapel to speak at the 100th anniversary of the church.
In 1940, L.D. Ussery was called as pastor, and remained in that position for 12 years. In 1946, the congregation worked together to build a new concrete foundation and basement for the church. An assembly hall, 6 Sunday School rooms, kitchen, furnace room, and rest rooms were included in the basement. Then the church building was moved off of its old stone pillars and pulled over to the new foundation, using block and tackle stump-pullers fastened to the large oak trees on the hill below the church and horses by Glenn Halsey, Paul Phipps, Felix Hash, and others. A library, vestibule and stairwell were added to the main floor of the building.
The Reverend Ussery left the church in 1951 to become Dean of the Students at Oak Hill. He remained at the school in many capacities for the next 21 years, until his retirement.
A parsonage was built for the pastor’s home during the next two years, while Lester Ferguson was pastor. In 1953, J.L. Shuman was called as pastor, and served five years. He was followed by Reverends Spears, Glenn Ross, Bill Hinton, and James Huggins. Hal Eaton became the pastor in September 1971 and served for 22 years. Doug Turnmire followed Rev. Eaton, becoming the pastor in May, 1993 and serving for 30 years until his retirement in May 2023. Chris Luper was called as pastor in August 2023. Renovations on the parsonage began the same year and were completed in 2024.