Broad River Baptist Church will celebrate 90th anniversary with homecoming services Sunday

BLACKSBURG - Broad River Baptist Church will have its 90th anniversary homecoming celebration on Sunday, Sept. 14. The Rev. Howard Allen, pastor of South Florence Baptist Church, will return to the church that he pastored from 1985-1991 to bring the message at the 11 a.m. worship service. All former pastors and families are invited as special guests.

Sunday School begins at 10 a.m. and the worship service begins at 11 a.m.

Very little is known about the actual beginning of Broad River Mills Church, as the church was first named. Even though no records were kept, tradition has it that the church was established as a result of a group of Christians meeting under a tree on Brull Street on Sunday afternoons beginning in 1915. The group met to lead the "mill children" in Bible study. Broad River Mills, owned by Hamrick Mills of Gaffney, realized the need for a place of worship for the mill village. As a result, a wooden church building was constructed in 1918 with a seating for 300 people. The building had only two Sunday School rooms. The church, organized with 19 members, was to be used as a union church by Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians and Episcopalians.

The first building fund money was deposited in the bank in 1950 in the amount of $920. The new church building was begun on March 1, 1952. Services were held in the Sunday School building in June 1952. The debt for the new church building was paid in full on Oct. 9, 1952, and the first services were held in the sanctuary on Nov. 15, 1952. Dedication services were held Oct. 25, 1953. At this time, all properties were deeded to the church by Hamrick Mills and the church became Broad River Baptist Church.

A house beside the church was purchased and remodeled in 1955 and became the parsonage for Broad River's first full-time pastor, the Rev. J.M. Pickler.

Later, Broad River Village Inc. deeded a corner lot directly across from the church on Cherokee Street for the purpose of construction of a new parsonage. This transaction occurred on Nov. 3, 1955, and the new parsonage was completed during 1960- 1961.

In 1965, additional Sunday School rooms and a fellowship hall were added as the ministry need of the church continued to grow. In order to meet the future ministry needs of the Blacksburg community, the church purchased various adjacent properties in 1991, 1994 and 2003.

The first Woman's Missionary Union was formed in 1919 and continues to be one of the most active groups in the church.

The church was incorporated in 2001 and is now known as Broad River Baptist Church of Blacksburg Inc. It was soon realized, with the purchase of a passenger vehicle and an auxiliary building at the corner of Lime and Charleston streets, that the possibilities for ministry would be endless.