The Winston-Salem congregation’s anniversary connects its roots after emancipation with generations of support for students and families.
WS Chronicle | Staff Report
First Waughtown Baptist Church will celebrate its 160th anniversary this weekend, marking a history rooted in the efforts of newly freed Black residents to build places of worship, learning and community life.
The celebration begins with a gala in Clemmons on Saturday, Sept. 19, followed by a homecoming worship service Sunday, Sept. 20, at the church, 838 Moravia St. in Winston-Salem.
The anniversary traces the congregation’s origins to 1866, when worshippers gathered in the cabin of John and Mary Linebach Fries, according to WFDD’s account of the church’s early history. Services later moved to the community’s Freedmen’s School, bringing religious life and education together in a building used by Black residents establishing themselves after slavery.
Historical research by Spencer McCall Jr., submitted to the city in a historic-marker application, describes how Waughtown’s freedmen organized a school after failing to obtain charitable assistance. A January 1867 newspaper account praised their efforts to establish and support it themselves.
An 1871 estate record identifies a property used for both church and school activities. McCall’s research connects that building to the early Black Baptist community from which First Baptist and First Waughtown Baptist churches developed.
Building a church home
First Waughtown’s written history records the congregation’s organization under the Rev. J. Pinkney, with assistance from the Rev. George W. Holland of First Baptist Church. Members worshipped in several locations before trustees acquired property on Waughtown Street.
By the early 1900s, the congregation was raising money for a larger, more permanent home. In December 1912, trustees were authorized to sell the Waughtown Street property and purchase land on Moravia Street, across from the Colored Baptist Orphanage.
The church opened at its new location in 1913 and made its facilities available to the orphanage. The move established the congregation at the Moravia Street site where it continues to worship.
The Rev. Dennis W. Bishop became assistant pastor in 1975. After leading New Bethel Baptist Church in Mocksville from 1980 to 1983, he returned to Waughtown as senior pastor, beginning a tenure that now spans more than four decades.
The congregation adopted the name First Waughtown Baptist Church in 1989 to distinguish itself from another Waughtown Baptist congregation. During Bishop’s leadership, it also built the D.W. Bishop Full Life Center. Church history
Supporting another generation
Education has remained a visible part of the church’s work. Past Chronicle coverage documents scholarships, recognition of graduates and a ministry preparing teenagers for college and careers.
At its 2022 College Day observance, First Waughtown recognized 11 high school and college graduates. Kabari Walker received the church’s $1,500 E.L. Grant Scholarship, named in memory of a former pastor.
Bishop urged the graduates to remember the people who had supported them and to use their education to benefit others.
“Reach back and help others,” he told them.
Walker also participated in Teens of Purpose, the church’s college and career preparation ministry. Earlier that year, he and fellow member Nailah Carter earned scholarships in the Martin Luther King Social Action Committee’s oratorical contest in Thomasville. Carter won first place.
Bishop’s work with students has extended beyond the church campus. At the 2017 ceremony where he received an honorary doctorate, a speaker recognized his travel to visit college students, along with his mentoring and visits to hospitals and nursing homes. The following year, the congregation celebrated his 50 years in ministry and 35 years as its senior pastor.
As First Waughtown approaches this weekend’s celebration, Bishop has pointed to those personal connections as a reason the congregation has endured. In an interview with WFDD, he emphasized attention to young people, education, relationships with neighbors and meals for people who need them.
“I think that interaction is what has kept us as a staple of this community,” he said.