The History
of
Flatrock Baptist Church

Upon This Rock God Built A Church...

In 1875 John Brower built a log church on the Marshall Farm about one and half miles northeast of the Crossroads. This church was built for the use of different denominations and was named the Laurel Hill Church for the abundant laurels which grew on the nearby cliffs. It was here on January 15, 1899 that fourteen men and eleven women met with a presbytery composed of ministers and elders from Mt. Airy (First) Baptist Church to organize a new Baptist Church which they named Flat Rock. Among the members of the Presbytery was Rev. C.C. Haymore, an illustrious Baptist leader who helped organize many churches including Mt. Airy First Baptist in 1879. Reverend Haymore served as pastor of Flat Rock in 1911.

On February 11, 1899 the tiny congregation elected its first pastor, J.H. Powers, and appointed a building committee of five men. Church records indicate that during the next six years, while apparently continuing to hold services in the log church at Laurel Hill, building a house of worship of their own was an important concern.

By the summer of 1905, Flat Rock was a member of the Pilot Mountain Baptist Association. Later that year the building committee began taking "’subscriptions’ for building a church."A lot was purchased next to the Flat Rock schoolhouse which stood on a knoll overlooking the road. There were great oak trees there, and the women placed their babies on quilts they had spread on the ground, and they placed logs around the quilts to keep their babies from crawling away. They helped the men clear the trees and brush away to make a place for their church.

Like the school which stood a few feet away, the church was a one room granite structure. Inside, two aisles divided three rows of wooden benches. At the front on both sides, benches sat perpendicular to the congregation. Those on the left were reserved for the choir. Beyond these stood the pulpit, and near the pulpit a coal stove. To divide the sanctuary into classrooms for Sunday School, dark green burlap curtains were pulled between sections of benches. On Saturdays, the children would wipe the benches and sweep the floor and on Sunday morning, one of the men would fill the stove and start the fire. He would later ring the bell to announce to the community that services were about to begin.

By 1926, church membership had expanded to 271 members and 124 enrolled in Sunday School. That year Flat Rock joined the Surry Baptist Association.

In 1937 the church bought and remodeled the old Flat Rock School and for thirty-seven years this building, along with the educational facility added in 1954, was home for Flat Rock Baptist Church.

It was during the 1950’s that the church experienced its greatest growth. By 1958 church membership numbered 500 with a Sunday School enrollment of 453.

This growth did not continue. Flat Rock, like so many of her sister churches throughout the nation, experienced a decline in membership in the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s. However, these circumstances did not dampen the spirits of the faithful whose commitment built a new sanctuary in 1974.

The spring of 1989 saw the end of the longest tenure of any pastor at Flat Rock Baptist Church. In ill health, Reverend Boyd Hopkins resigned after seventeen years of service.

One year later, the church called a new minister, Jon Cawley. An early Sunday morning worship service was begun in 1995 to meet the needs of persons who must work during the regular church hour.

The church has sponsored mission trips to build and repair churches damaged by flood. Several thousand persons have been touched by the Resurrection dramas presented at Easter.

In 1993 and 1994, the church erected a new educational facility and in 1998 began the remodeling of the sanctuary.