What began as a seed of an idea has grown into the Oak Hill Baptist Church we see today. Fifty-three years ago a small group wanted to form a Southern Baptist Church. They wanted it in the Oakhill-Melody Hills area. Area missionary and church planter C.E. Wiley arranged a preliminary meeting.
On January 24 1960 this group met at the home of Mr. and Mrs. John Hughes. Dr. E.H. Moore was their guest speaker. A seed was planted. A dream was born.
In June of that year, the group met with the Missions Committee of Keck Avenue Baptist Church. The committee was interested in sponsoring the new work. It became official soon after. On July 10 1960 Oak Hill Chapel was formed. Twenty-five people attended.
In September 1960 Rev. Paul Bowles became the mission’s first pastor. He served for two years. With help from Keck Avenue, the mission bought its first property. They began worshipping there in August 1961.
In March 1963 Rev. William Tucker became the second pastor. This was after a five-month interim by Rev. William Weedman. Under Rev. Tucker’s leadership, the mission bought the property at Oak Hill and Bergdolt Roads.
The dream came true on October 6 1963. Oak Hill Chapel became Oak Hill Baptist Church. It was a constituted Southern Baptist church with sixty-eight members. The church broke ground in September. They started building on the new property. Rev. William Carter became their pastor in August 1964. The new building was finished and dedicated in April 1965.
In March 1985 Rev. Glen Flowers was called as pastor. This followed pastorates by Rev. Joe Hasson Rev. Roy Jones and Rev. Irvin Parrett. Under Rev. Flowers’ leadership, the church grew.
Oak Hill Baptist Church embarked on a “Together We Build” program. This expanded educational facilities and remodeled space. The goal was to reach more people. Construction finished in January 1988.
The church continued to serve the Lord. It supported missions locally and around the world. In 1997 the church decided to build again. In 1998 they finished and dedicated the second addition of educational space. Church members built this addition with cash and volunteer labor.
In 2000 the church saw a need to enhance their ministry to children. They started a weekday childcare ministry. In April 2000 this ministry started with a Summer program for kids of all ages. The OHBC Childcare continues to care for and educate children in a Christ-focused environment. Today they care for over 100 children daily.
After 21 years Rev. Glen Flowers retired from Oak Hill Baptist Church. In May 2006 Rev. Alan Scott was called. Another building was needed to accommodate the growing church. In early 2008 a multipurpose worship and education space was begun. The building was dedicated October 2008. This new facility allowed for expanded worship attendance and new bible study groups. It also allowed for dedicated student ministry space, enhanced Children’s ministry programs, and new ministry programming like Upwards sports ministry.
Between 2006 and 2014 worship attendance at Oak Hill more than doubled. They have also donated over $100000 to local national and international missions each year. The church has also gone on numerous mission trips. The Church also added staff members as it has grown. The church currently has five full-time pastors two paid ministry directors and a four ministry support staff.
Pastor Alan had a vision for reaching people locally. The Life Change Central Ministry was formed. Early on it focused on the Oak Hill Food pantry. In August 2010 Oak Hill partnered with Trinity Missionary Baptist Church. They became Oak Hill Baptist Church Trinity Campus. This allowed them to build a new food pantry building. It was completed March 2011. The OHBC Food pantry served over 2000 people in 2012.
Martha Russell said God has blessed Oak Hill Baptist Church. We pray that Oak Hill will continue to grow and serve the spiritual needs of our community.
Oak Hill had a dream and that dream became a reality. Pastor Alan said God has even greater things for us to do.