Grimsley Original Free Will Baptist Church 1762-2012

Grimsley Original Free Will Baptist Church 1762-2012. . "This is a goodly place to worship," author unknown. The creator of that phrase was one of the earliest members of Grimsley Free Will Baptist Church. The goodly place to worship that he was referring to is the current site of the Grimsley Church. The exact date of the church's founding has not been fully determined since the earliest court records were destroyed by a fire that consumed the Dobbs County Court House in 1880., By the most conservative estimates this congregation started around 1762. A deed recorded in the Greene County Court House in 1800 confirms that a building was erected on the present site in 1784. The site was given permission by the land owner named James., Little Creek Church, the oldest in the denomination, was founded in 1756 by Joseph Parker who went about planting churches in the area. There are two additional churches that are known to have been established by Joseph Parker; Gum Swamp Church in Pitt County and Grimsley Church in Greene County. Over the years both Grimsley as well as Gum Swamp Church has been referred to as "arms of the Little Creek Church.", It is believed that Grimsley took its name from the Grimsley family home place that hosted the congregation until a sanctuary could be built in 1784. The Grimsley home place, today known as the Raspberry house, can be seen behind the current church across a field, and on the west side of Highway 258 north., Over the last 250 years, Grimsley has endured many hardships. The congregation has survived many wars: The Revolutionary War, the Civil War, world war one, world war two, Korea, Vietnam, and the current war on terrorism. Grimsley has overcome many attempts to convert and change to the doctrine of the General Baptist. The first attempt came from the Calvinist movement known as Particular Baptist during 1755-1765. That movement converted all of our General Baptist Churches except for five, and took all of our ministers except three., The Campbellite movement came next lasting from 1834-1844. Prior to that, many new General Baptist churches had been established only to see several converted to the Disciples of Christ doctrine. The Wheat Swamp Church of Lenoir County, the oldest General Baptist church at the time, succumbed to this new teaching., After many years of hard work, reestablishing the General Baptist faith, planting and sustaining new General Baptist congregations, we found ourselves facing another religious movement. This time it was the Holiness movement of 1911. Again many of our ministers were swayed to this movement and in turn converted their congregations to the Holiness faith and practices of worship., Although there have been many attempts to supplant our faith practices and beliefs, and by the Grace of God enduring countless other difficulties, Grimsley Church has continued to be a beacon of light. This congregation continues to reflect the doctrine of the Armenian General Baptist, known today as Original Free Will Baptist. It is our sincere hope and prayer that God has been pleased with the last 250 years of our steadfast defense of our faith and our continued, assembling of ourselves together for the worship and praise of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We ask God to grant us many more years of service in the future. May we stay true, strong, and faithful until the Lord's return.