Also in this section:

Salem Baptist Church was organized on December 26, 1898, by a Presbytery composed of C.H. Stone, chairman, A.J. Williams, spokesman, and C.L. Jarvis, clerk. Some of the first members were S.L. Edmonds, Allen Kidd, J.E. Edmonds and Lucy Kidd. C.H. Stone was elected the first pastor. Services were held in the old Edmonds one-room schoolhouse during the winter and under a brush arbor in the summer.

In early 1900, W.H. Wood selected a site to build a church on the west side of Rockford Road, which is now the lower front corner of the main cemetery.

During the ensuing years the church grew, and in 1948 the church built a new building which was the basic structure that we used until August of 2004. It was completed in 1949, brick was added in 1951, and pews installed in 1952. The building was dedicated on December 7, 1952.

In 1956, a basement and Sunday School rooms were added across the back of the building. In 1965, the church built a parsonage and called its first full-time pastor.

In 1969, the addition of an education building was begun, which was located directly behind the church.

In 1977, a vestibule was added, and the sanctuary was remodeled. First services were held in the new sanctuary on Easter Sunday, 1978.

In 1998 Salem celebrated its 100 years of sharing Christ in our community and around the world. Then, in 2000 Salem added a 9,000 sq. ft. Multi-purpose Building. The Lord has enabled us to use this facility for many functions and ministries over the past several years.

New Sanctuary (2005)

On July 6, 2003 our Pastor, Rev. Bobby Lewis, Jr. began to serve the Salem family. Then, on June 13, 2004, with the church growing strong, the congregation voted to engage in another building program—to remove the existing sanctuary, educational building, and parsonage and construct a new 17,000 sq. ft. worship facility with a state-of-the-art sanctuary, Sunday School classes, and office spaces. On July 10, 2005 we celebrated the completion of this magnificent undertaking with our first service in the new sanctuary.

During the course of over 100 years of serving our great God, Salem has used the services of 22 pastors, 4 youth ministers, sent 6 men into the ministry, and ordained 43 deacons.

The Lord has been gracious to bestow upon our fellowship here at Salem His marvelous bounty. We fondly remember where we’ve been, we celebrate God’s present work among us, and we eagerly anticipate where the Lord will take us in the future. While we rejoice greatly in our new facilities here at Salem, we always recognize the primary focus of our ministry is to continue proclaiming the Good News of Jesus and promoting the growth of His people.

All praise, honor, and glory is given to the One who truly deserves it— our great God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ!