sanctuary
quillHistory of Mount Olive Baptist Church
 
Founded July 17, 1851, Mount Olive Baptist Church has been a place of worship for over 150 years, touching the lives of many. Accepted into the Beulah Baptist Association and later the Pilot Mountain Baptist Association, Mount Olive has stood as a testament to the Faith, Hope and Love that is fond through Jesus Christ. Mount Olive is a member of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina and the national Southern Baptist Convention.
 
“History of Mount Olive Church” by local Historian and church member Robert “Bob” Carroll
 
The exact date Mount Olive Baptist Church was established is unknown. In 1804 County Court records refer to a road being built from Cook’s Meeting House on the Little Yadkin River to the Quaker road. It is possible, as the location is in the same general area, that Cook’s meeting House became Mount Olive Meeting House. However, there is no proof of this.
 
(Picture at the top right is the Mount Olive Meeting House c. 1850. Sketch by Mack Kiser)
The first record of Mount Olive Meeting House was a listing of the marriage of John Arney and Polley Boyles, held there in September of 1821. According to county court records, there was an election held in Mount Olive Meeting House to elect school committeemen in 1839. School was held in the church from 1840 until 1889, except during the Civil War.
 
Mount Olive is an arm of Friendship Baptist Church. It was not established as a Missionary Baptist Church until July 17, 1851 when it was accepted into the Beulah Baptist Association. The following people were charter members of Mount Olive Baptist Church: Isham Boyles, Cynthis Boyles, john Boyles, Alexander Boyles, Nancy Boyles, Solomon Boyles, Elizabeth Boyles, Margaret Boyles, Charity Boyles, Noah Boyles, William B. Boyles, Sara Boyles, John W. Givson, Temperance Gibson, Mary Gibson, Theeny Gibson, Daniel Hall, William Tillotson, Thomas Tillotson and Mary Tillotson. Many descendants of these charter members are in the church today. The original trustees were Isham Boyles, William B. Boyles and John W. Gibson.
(Second picture on the right is Mount Olive Church c. 1925)
mtolive1851
mtolive1935
oldmtolive2
(Third picture on the right is Mount Olive c. 1948)
Mount Olive is the second oldest church in the Pilot Mountain Baptist Association. The church helped organize the association with other area churches from Stokes and Forsyth County in 1885.
 
The Pilot Mountain Baptist Sunday School Association was organized at Mount Olive, March 29, 1889.
 
Several area Baptist Missions began with members from Mount Olive. In 1887, Mount Olive provided help to Mountain Chappel Church, which was struggling to survive, by granting letters of dismissal to six members to help organize what was to become Brown Mountain Baptist Church. On October 5, 1895, five members of Mount Olive applied for letters of dismissal to become charter members of the King Baptist Church (now First Baptist Church of King). On October 23, 1909, forty-eight members of Mount Olive applied for letters of dismissal to become charter members of Quaker Gap Baptist Church. On January 15, 1911, twenty-one members of Mountain View Baptist Church. (in 1910 the Mount View Methodist Episcopal Church was sold and became a Baptist Church in 1911.)
 
In 1885, the church voted to build a new building and appointed a committee. The congregation debated for two years on where to build the new church. Several wanted the new church built on site and others wanted to relocate to a new site, where the church had a brush arbor Sunday school meeting. After debating for two yeas they decided to move the church to where the brush arbor was location. This location is at the intersection of present day Chestnut Grove Rd. and Highway 66. The church was built and first services held in 1889. (Fourth picture on the right is Mount Olive c. 1970).
 
In 1937, Sunday school rooms were added to the church. A covered porch was added in 1941. In 1952, the two single front doors were replaced with a double door and a single aisle instead of two. An Education Building was built in 1957. The old sanctuary was torn down in 1973 and a new sanctuary built and first services held on East Sunday 1974. A picnic shelter with full kitchen and restrooms and ball fields were added in the early 1980’s and in 1995 a new Fellowship Building was built. The new Fellowship Building includes a Fellowship Hall & Kitchen, Sunday School rooms, Conference Rooms, Offices for the Pastors and church secretary and the Bob Carroll library. 
(Fifth picture on the right is a wedding in the old Mount Olive sanctuary c. 1971)
(Six and seventh pictures are Mount Olive c. 1975 and c. 2015)
 
In 2004, the church started and additional Sunday morning service to accommodate parking needs and growth. The front entrance to the main Sanctuary was laid with new tile. We enlarged the Young Married Couple (Faith Followers) Sunday School class to seat up to 45. We began a College & Career Ministry.
 
As 2004 came to an end, the church voted to hire a full time Minister of Music to meet the growing needs in the Music Ministry. We enclosed the old picnic shelter to make a new large building to accommodate the Youth Ministry. The long Range planning Committee is in phase 2 of a series to meet the immediate growth and needs of the church. (Eight picture is the Fellowship picture – built in 1995)
 
The Education Building is going through renovations to meet the immediate needs of the Children’s Ministry. The new nursery and childcare facility opened in June of 2006. The Education Building will also be renovated to accommodate the Senior Adult Ministry. The Lord made possible for the church to purchase a 7 1/2 acre farm across Hwy 66 to be used for future projects. God is blessing us in Mount Olive Church and we look forward to what He has in store for us in the future.
 
The old picnic shelter was enclosed for a Youth Center that opened in the Spring of 2005. New lighting was added to the main sanctuary in the summer of that same year.
 
The Church purchased a 25 passenger bus in 2012.
 
In 2016, the church bought a new playground for the children of the church and the community and moved the playground location near the Education Building. The playground structure is a permanent structure with a soft safety surface that will provide enjoyment for many years to come. 
 
(Bottom picture is inside the current day Main Sanctuary)
Over the past 150 years, Mount Olive has been served by the following Pastors: D.A. Poindexter 1851-1853, J.H. Caudle 1854-1869, Pinkney Oliver 1870-1876, Robert Gourley 1877-Dec. 1880, Rufus Crews June 1881-Aug. 1901, R.M. Loftis Aug 1901-April 1906, Henry Sheets May 1909-Apr. 1912, J.T. Smith Sept. 1906-Feb. 1916, J.W. Burchett Mar. 1916-Aug. 1917, L.W. Burris Oct. 1917-Aug. 1926, O.E. Wart Sept. 1926-June 1931, F.W. Swanson Aug. 1931-Apr. 1935, J.F. Manuel Jan. 1934-Sept. 1934, E.T. Sims Jan. 1935-Dec. 1952, Alford Stanford Jan. 1953-May 1956, Frank Chance Oct. 1956-July 1962, Alfred Philley Dec. 1962-Aug. 1966, Tom Lawrence July 1967-Oct. 1968, Henry Carroll May 1969-Dec. 1974, Winburn Davis Mar. 1975-Sept. 1977, William Pope Feb. 1978-July 1988, Y.K. Wilkerson May 1989-Nov. 1999, Randy Roberts Oct. 2000-Aug. 2007, Carl Goodman, July 2008-June 2016, Dan Wackerhagen 2017-2018.
 
The following have served as Ministers of Youth of Mount Olive: Ted Goslin (Summer Youth Worker) 1981-1983, Andy Oliver Mar. 1985-Aug. 1992, Sam Sorrells Apr. 1993-2000, Robbie Crane May 2001-Apr. 2004, Randy Storz July 2004-July 2017.
 
The following have served as Minister of Music/Worship Leader of Mount Oliver: Ted Barneycastle (Part-time) Oct 2003-Oct. 2004, Stan Scott (Full-time) May 2005-November 2012, David Brown (Part-time) 2014-2019.
 
Mount Olive Baptist Church has over 170 active members.
Sunday School Enrollment: 127
Average Wednesday Evening Attendance: 35
Choir Enrollment: 20
 
“Mt. Olive Baptist Church Cemetery” 
The Mt. Olive Baptist Church Cemetery is located on YMCA Camp Road at the original site of Mt. Olive Church. The final burial in this cemetery was in or around 1925. Today, this cemetery is known as “Old Mt. Olive Church Cemetery.” The cemetery adjacent to the current Mt. Olive Baptist Church, located on NC Highway 66 at the intersection of Chestnut Grove Road, is held in separate trust from the church. For more information concerning the Cemetery contact Wiley Burcham.
 
Please note: Mt. Olive Baptist Church, Inc. does not control the trust of Mt. Olive Cemetery. Therefore, Mt. Olive Baptist Church, Inc. and Mt. Olive Cemetery are two separate entities. There is a listing of the grave sites in the Bob Carroll Church Library on those buried in “Old Mt. Olive Church Cemetery” on YMCA Camp Road. For information on Mt. Olive Cemetery or to make a donation to the cemetery fund: please write, Mt. Olive Cemetery, c/o Mr. Wiley Burcham, 1180 Chestnut Grove Road, King, NC 27021. Trustees of Mt. Olive Cemetery, Wiley Burcham, Tim Hall and Randall Smith.
 
For more information on the History of Mount Olive Baptist Church, please send an email with subject line “History” to mountolivesbc@gmail.com.
 
Thank you and God Bless!