The land on which Antioch Baptist Church stands was donated by Mr. W.B. Williams in the early 1800’s. The church was founded in 1831. During our early years, our church experienced many difficult times. In 1861 a tornado blew the church building completely away. A new church was erected only to be destroyed by fire in 1875. Again, God’s people rebuilt to have a place of worship. There are few records available concerning the life of the church between 1875 and the early 1900’s. We do know that in 1889, under the leadership of Brother JL Dawes, the church attendance was 63. By 1895, under the leadership of Brother Doyle, church attendance had reached 137.
Records show that in 1936, the church began a remodeling program when electric lights were installed. On August 18, 1939, lightning struck the building and again the church building was lost by fire. Once again, the church was rebuilt and dedicated its new facility in November of 1941. In 1960 the church voted to begin construction on a new sanctuary as soon as the building fund reached a certain figure. It was built on September 25, 1966. This is our present sanctuary and worship center. In April 1977, the church voted to begin construction of new kitchen facilities, dining room, and gymnasium.
Fast forward several years…in 2008, we built our current Education Wing and removed the old portion of the building. The Education Wing added 18 Sunday School rooms to the building as well as some storage rooms and a Sunday School Office. In 2016, we remodeled the Sanctuary, this included: new carpet, paint, recovered the pews, new audio/visual technology, and expanded the stage. In 2023, the Fellowship Hall was repainted, new flooring was put down, ceiling tiles were changed and new lights were added. The Gym also received new paint and LED lights were added.
Growth is challenging and one of those challenges is constantly updating the facilities God has blessed us with at Antioch. God has done and is continuing to do amazing things in our church. We look forward with anticipation to see how God is going to continue to bless our church.