Church History

The following “history” of Pine Hill Baptist Church was written in 1991 in honor of the dedication of our then new fellowship hall.  It was lovingly written and read by charter member Ruth Motley Dills.  Today, Sister Ruth is spending her very first Homecoming in Heaven with many other devoted and founding members…where “Homecoming Day” never ends.

How vividly I recall the “cottage” prayer meetings that were regularly held around in the community during my early teen years.  It was at one of these meetings that I first testified for my Lord.  Some of the homes had old organs in them, the kind on pedals vigorously while playing the keyboard, while a few other homes had old upright pianos.  Then there were the meetings where a guitar was played along with the singing, and if there was no music at all we sang the praises of God, prayed, testified, and then a man of God would preach.  Sometimes it would be my father, Bro. Motley; again it would be some other preacher.  Since there was no air conditioning in the homes, the windows would be open in the summer and all the neighbors around nearby knew “meeting” was being held, and it was not uncommon for people to come sit in the yards and listen to the preaching.  There was a closeness among the people in the little prayer band…people were being saved and the prayer band was growing.

After a while, a vision was conceived that we should establish a church.  Everyone was enthusiastic about the idea so the next hurdle to cross was obtaining land on which to build the church.  God provided the land through a gift of about one acre given by Mr. J.W. Dills.  The land was given stating on the deed that it was for the specific purpose of a church; also further it was stated that if not used for a church for a period of twelve months, the property would revert back to Mr. Dills.  The people went to work and built a brush arbor on the east side of the property in which to hold services while the construction of the church building was under way.

The church was organized September 15, 1946 in the brush arbor, and was at that time named Campbell Hill Baptist Church.  The Rev. John W. Cummings was called to be the first pastor.  The Rev. Tom Smith preached the organizational message.  Other ministers present were the Rev. W.S. Motley, the Rev. Choice Sane, and the Rev. W. H. Cummings.

Services were held on Sunday afternoons and Thursday evenings as Bro. Cummings was already the pastor of a church in Dalton where he preached on Sunday mornings and evenings; also Wednesday evenings.

The people definitely “had a mind to work” and soon the church building was erected…that is the outside walls and roof, although our floor was sawdust.  When one went to the altar to pray he or she actually did hit the “sawdust trail”.  The building consisted only of what is now our auditorium.  On June 17, 1948 the name of the church was changed to PINE HILL BAPTIST CHURCH by majority vote.  Pine Hill Baptist Church became a member of the Catoosa County Baptist Association in 1948.

In 1949, the people felt that we should change our services from Sunday afternoons to Sunday morning and evenings with midweek prayer service being held on Wednesday evenings.  Bro. John Cummings resigned as pastor at this time since he could no longer serve due to his prior commitment as pastor to the other church in Dalton.  The Rev. Sam D. Sharp was then elected as our pastor.  The little church flourished under Bro. Sharp’s leadership.  It grew in numbers and gloriously in spirit.  It seemed that “Heaven came down and glory filled our souls.”  How well I remember that it was during this time that my father built the large altar that is still in the church.  He carefully sanded and planed…wanted it just right.  We have seen many people over the years give their hearts to God at the old altar.

It was a great day when we were able to put a floor in the church.  Sunday School rooms were built in each of the four corners of the auditorium.  They were built of plywood; so the two near the front doors were easily torn out when the present Sunday School rooms were built.  A class was also held in the choir with the curtains pulled together.  Sister Edith Middleton can tell you about the ‘joys’ of the JOY BIBLE CLASS.

The church purchased new pews in 1957; and in 1960 the addition was built onto the back of the church.  The new addition consisted of five Sunday School rooms and two restrooms just as it is today.  Brother Eugene Johnson was called as our pastor in 1959, and our new addition was greatly attributed to his hand work and encouragement along with a lot of hard work from loyal members of our congregation.  I can still remember how happy and thankful we were on that first Sunday when we occupied the new Sunday School rooms.  Some of our men who worked so hard to build this addition have already gone to be with Jesus.  Those were happy days at the little church.  I have known of many nights when prayer was held all night in our altar, and God answered our prayers with the salvation of many souls.

In September of 1961, God sent us a dedicated young man to serve as our pastor.  He was none other than our present pastor, the Rev. Halbert Williams.  (Remember, this was written in 1991.)  It was during his pastorate that the Lord made it possible to purchase the land east of the church building from Mr. Fax Campbell.  With much prayer and hard work, we soon paid off this indebtedness.  Bro. Filmore Lillard worked especially long and hard to raise money for this purpose.  Our lovely new fellowship hall stands here today on a portion of that land.

The stained glass windows were installed in the auditorium in 1965.  The Rev. T.A. Brown was our pastor at this time.  Then, in 1968, the central heating and air conditioning system was installed both in the auditorium and the Sunday School rooms.  A loan was negotiated for this project, but the Lord continued to bless us and the money was repaid ahead of schedule.  The church was again free of debt.

Our annual Homecomings are especially memorable to me.  In my mind’s eye, I can still see the children running around the tables enjoying themselves along with the grownups.  Some of these happy children have already gone on to be with the Lord.  Our first outside picnic tables were hard to keep in repair, as they were made of lumber; but in 1971 under the pastorate of Rev. Lillard Stringer, the concrete tables that we presently enjoy, and the shed over them were erected.  These tables have proven to be invaluable during Vacation Bible School.  Many cups of kool aid and many cookies have been served on them.

The purchase of the organ in August of 1971 was a lovely addition to our church.  The Baldwin piano that we presently enjoy in our services was bought in June of 1975.

In 1980, the new ceiling was installed in the auditorium.  Bro. James Cummings donated his labor for this job, with the church paying for the materials.  Then, in October of 1980, the church voted to build a vestibule.  This was soon finished, and was a welcome addition to our church.  The Rev. Edward Parsons was our pastor at this time.

On January 25, 1984, the Rev. Halbert Williams again became our pastor by 100% vote of members present.  He is now beginning his seventh year as pastor of Pine Hill (1991).  We have seen the Lord do great things for us during Bro. Halbert’s present pastorate.  He and his wife, Sister Verner Williams, have a special place in our hearts.

Early in this past year, 1990, talk of a fellowship Hall began to be heard…faintly at first, then it became much more audible through the voice of Bro. Raymond Hamilton.  Bro. Raymond, along with others, was surely praying hard for this dream to become reality for the next thing we heard was Sister Vera Collins saying “Well, let’s get to work on it and get it built”.  She evidently believes in backing up her words with action, as she was the first to start the fund with a $1000 donation toward the construction of this lovely building.  This was an incentive for others to also give sacrificially.  Bro. Hamilton was elected chairman of the building committee and has one a wonderful job with God’s help.  God has poured out his blessings upon this little congregation, and today, February 3, 1991, we are gathered here for the purpose of dedicating this lovely building…our Christian Fellowship Center, to God to be used for his glory and the upbuilding of His Kingdom.  Thank you, Bro. Raymond for a big job well done.

I have only touched on a few highlights in the history of Pine Hill Baptist Church.  I could write for weeks, but the half has never been told when we meet over on Heaven’s glorious shore and see those who have given their hearts to God at this little church.  I love all of you…and the cherished memories of the past 45 years are forever stamped indelibly upon my heart.

Ruth M. Dills, 1991

Onward Christian Soldiers

IN the 10 years since our Fellowship Hall was completed (again debt free!), Pine Hill Baptist Church has continued in God’s favor.  Because of being founded upon the “Solid Rock”, our foundation has supported us through the years.  We’ve held together through happiness and sorrow, births and deaths, building up and tearing down, revival and recession, prayers going up and blessings coming down, down, and down.

ONE of my favorite memories since childhood is the old time baptizin’s…going down to the creek with hymnals in hand and lifting our voices with “We shall ga-ther at the ri-ver, the beau-ti-ful, the beau-ti-ful ri-ver.”  But as pollution and safety (personally, I felt the ‘serpents’ added a certain amount of heartfelt sincerity to our prayers) became a modern day issue, the little congregation began to call upon the use of North Whitfield and former pastor Lillard Stringer’s baptistery.  We soon became spoiled to the heated waters unhindered by questionable weather and the absence of long skinny reptiles.  During 1992, our own “beautiful river” in the form of a baptistery was constructed using the rear portion of the choir for its location.  Rev. Halbert Williams was still our pastor at this time.  Again, Bro. Raymond Hamilton saw that this job and others got done well with God’s help before he left us to be with the Lord in December, 1996.

OTHER blessings have come in the form of a steeple to crown our little church (before the fellowship hall in fact), new mauve carpeting, pew upholstery and draperies to match during 1994-95.  With Pastor Hoyt Williams came paving of our east parking lot in 1994 and the west in ’97, Sunday School room carpeting in 1996, then a Sound & Media room using surplus space in the vestibule and attic was constructed and finely equipped in May, 1998.  Chain link fencing around our boundaries was installed in 1999 to help “corral” our own Baby Boom here at Pine Hill.  This “littlest” congregation are tomorrow’s church leaders here at PHBC and the number of births since the mid’90s would seem to indicate a very healthy future.  Debt free!

The fires of spiritual growth have been rekindled.  A “mind to work” seems to be rejuvenated.  We’ve already seen the winning of souls, new members, the additions of a monitor in a refurbished nursery, an internet website, the Whispering Pines newsletter, and a radio broadcast on WFLI 1070AM each Sunday at 4:00pm.

I believe the folks in the “little prayer band” once held in a neighbor’s living room, on a porch or in a brush arbor would say “Yes children, this is what we were praying for.”  And since most are now at home with Jesus, they’d surely say “It’s been worth every mile…just wait ‘til you all get home!”

Dolores Dills Turner, 2001