PBA History
This Association began with the work of God in one man, progressing into the historic A Sandy Creek Movement. Shubal Stearns was saved and baptized in New England about 1748. In 1755 the group he led into central North Carolina erected a meeting house and founded the Sandy Creek Baptist Church. This began the Separate Baptist movement as the gospel spread in the fervor of Stearns preaching. This single church erupted across the frontier into 42 churches in 17 years. After the Battle of Alamance Creek, between the Regulators and Governor Tryon's soldiers, the Governor blamed the Baptists for the uprising. They were driven from the area and their churches burned. Even when the Piedmont Baptist Association was organized in 1894, Baptists were still few and weak in the piedmont compared to present-day standards.
In 1894, delegates from five churches met at the West Washington St. Baptist Church, Greensboro, [now First Baptist, Greensboro] and organized the Piedmont Baptist Association. The five churches were: West Washington St., Greensboro; Buchanan; Reidsville Baptist; Liberty Baptist; Summerfield [now First Baptist Church]. Sunday School played an important role in the development of churches. The Sunday School Report of 1895 stated that all of the churches had Sunday Schools, plus several mission schools. The Sunday School committee recommended that "live" Sunday Schools be operated 12 months in each year in all of the churches.
Churches started and some were lost from the Association over the century. PBA churches contributed significant leaders to the Baptist State Convention and the Southern Baptist Convention. Vance Havner, J. Clyde Turner, Claud Bowen, Howard Foshee, Robert Stewart, Randall Lolly and A.L.Parker are among these. Significant church development came from the influence of Judge Eller for whom the Eller Memorial Baptist Church was named. There was a lengthy tribute to Judge Eller in the Annual Minutes of 1923. He began the work that became the Asheboro St. Baptist Church. He was also related to the beginnings of churches at Worth Ville, Sandy Creek and Central Falls. He pastored the Summerfield Church. In 1908, at the age of 76, he was commissioned as an Associational Missionary. He worked in Proximity, Revolution, North Greensboro, Colfax, Glenwood, Edgewood, Magnolia Street, Glenola, Osceola, Guilford College and Oakdale and started missions in each locale.
Rev. T.L. Sasser, pastor of First Baptist, Reidsville, was recommended to the Home Mission Board as Superintendent of Missions in 1943. He was accepted and paid by them. A Local Missions Committee and general fund were established with an original goal of $1,600. There were 283 messengers from 52 churches present at the Annual Meeting. In 1946 Missionary Sasser urged the churches to greatly increase their support of the Association and that an Associational Budget be adopted, instead of just meeting the usual expenses. In response, a relatively simple budget was adopted totaling $6,000.
There was strong support for development of a youth camp. Lakewood was purchased in 1950 in southeast Guilford County. The Association had an office for the first time in 1951. Within a few years there was considerable debate about how to build on the Lakewood property. In 1952 a house was built for the missionary and PBA set workable policies for ownership and use of cottages. Focus on evangelism gave heart to the growing Association. In 1954 there were 1,855 reported baptisms. Missionary Sasser retired in 1957. The next year a number of churches formed the Central Association. In 1959 two other High Point churches chose to join them and PBA voted to contribute $1,000 a year for six years to Central Baptist Association for their part of the property owned by the PBA. The Piedmont Baptist Association held 52 churches at the end of this episode.
In 1976 Rev. W.A. Duncan resigned as Director. Rev. Manuel Cunnup came as Director in 1978 and served for nine years, greatly enhancing and enlarging ministries, budget and staff. Budget expanded by 10% per year, but evangelism weakened in many churches and annual baptisms dropped below 500. While churches came into the Association and ministries such as chaplaincy and literacy grew, membership eroded via the influence of pastors who drew churches into the independent stream of Baptist life. In 1980 a new Constitution was adopted.
New ethnic groups emerged and sparked interest in global missions. In the late 1980s a Vietnamese and an Arabic Mission began and Good News, a black church, joined PBA. The Association voted to participate in the Sao Paulo, Brazil Partnership Mission. The DOM Search Committee met Dr. Dennis Blackmon in Brazil where he was serving as director of the Central Association of Sao Paulo. He was called as Director of Missions in May, 1988. Dr. Barry Nealy was called as the new Church Extension Director in July of that same year. Emphasis on evangelism and church planting focused on growth for an Association which now had 49 churches, the 50th being admitted to the association in October 1988 at the Annual Meeting and the 51st being added in the 1989.
The lowest baptismal numbers were recorded in 1923. Total receipts by the churches were $12,497,453, with $828,089 given to the Cooperative Program and $257,071 to the PBA. The 1991 budget was $322,323.
Dr. Edwin Vaughan gave 57 acres of land to the Association atI-40/85, on Sharpe Rd. The Lakewood property was sold in 1989 and funds were applied to construction of an office and gymnasium on the Sharpe Road property. The staff moved into this building in December, 1992. Two years later the Vietnamese Church built on the property with aid from many volunteers from Southside, other PBA churches and a few outside groups. The Hispanic Church is building on two acres deeded to it by PBA.
During the nineties staff was reconfigured in line with the evangelism and church planting focus. Barry Nealys position was modified from Church Extension to Associate Director in 1990. By the year 2000, five full-time chaplain positions were reduced to two, plus a part-time person. In place of these positions, a Church and Community Ministries Director and an International Student Ministry Director were added. Churches reported four consecutive years of baptisms over 800.
There were four black churches in the PBA by 1992. Other ethnic churches became part of the fraternity so that there are now Arabic, Hispanic, Korean, Ethiopian, Montagnard and Vietnamese member churches. This brings present membership to 64 churches and three missions.
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