History

First Baptist Church was founded on October 8, 1844, by fourteen charter members when Hendersonville was a small village of fewer than 500 people.

The original house of worship was erected about 1850 at  Caswell and Main Streets. In 1889, a new structure at Fourth Avenue West  and Washington Street was occupied.  This building was rebuilt in 1911 and again in 1932, and was used until 1954.  By 1914, church membership was 608.  The Education Building was completed in 1950. The present Sanctuary was completed in 1958.  From 1951-1968, church membership increased from 1,400 to 2,000.

In the late 1970’s, the church voted to build the Family Life Center. By 1993, the church purchased several other properties including the Annex and the property between Fifth and Sixth Ave. to be used for classrooms and parking.

During Rich Liner’s pastorate (1978-1991), a second Sunday Morning Worship Service (8:30am) was added to accommodate worshipers. After Pastor Steve Scoggins began his ministry in August of 1992, a second “Contemporary” Service was added in 1999 because of the steady growth in attendance in the services. Under the leadership of Sam Boyd, we began construction of our Crosswalk Student Center in 2007. We currently have three Sunday morning worship services. Today our total church membership is over 3,500. In June 2008, Ryan Pack became our Senior Pastor.

In 1999, the church voted to build a new four-story facility for children and to remodel the areas previously used by children to accommodate adults (Building C).  The Children’s Education Center was opened in August of 2000 and remodeling was completed by the end of that year.

In September of 2008 our church opened a 34,000 square foot youth facility called the Crosswalk Student Center located on the corner of HWY 64 and Buncombe Street.  Through the years, First Baptist Church has been blessed with over 25 notable pastors. The church has also ordained 25 young ministers since 1849, and sent out missionaries to over a dozen foreign countries.