History of South Estatoe Baptist Chruch
SOUTH ESTATOE BAPTIST CHURCH
1896—2025 (129 yrs. Serving the Lord)
The South Estatoe Baptist Church was established in 1896 down by the South Toe River, in a spot known as the “Sandy Bottoms.” Evidently this was why the church is known by many older residents today as Sandy Bottom Baptist Church. In the original minutes the church was known as “South Toe Baptist Church.” The property was conveyed to the church in 01/02/1898 by Jason Autrey and wife, Sallie Autrey. The founder of the church was Rev. Ben B. Riddle.
According to the first minutes, on October 18, 1896, “A group of
concerned Christians met to consider the propriety of organizing a
Baptist Church.” There were 11 people present at this meeting. The
Reverend B.B. Riddle was elected pastor. On November 7, 1896, the first sermon was preached. The church covenant was read and adopted. It was voted mutually to except articles of faith and the members voted themselves into a church. The minutes state: “All the people present have professed faith in Jesus Christ and have been baptized. Therefore, we have the right to make such a procedure.”
Two interesting facts found while researching the old minutes of the church were, that for many years there were no services held in December or January because of the bad weather and sometimes services were held on Saturday instead of Sunday. This is believed to have been necessary when a pastor held two churches at the same time. The churches alternated between Saturday and Sunday services. In 1940, a building committee was nominated for a new church building (our present building.) The committee consisted of David Ballew, Aaron Shuford, Roscoe Westall, Athan Shuford, John Milt Shuford, John Pritchard and Luther Harrison. John Milt Shuford served as Chairman; John Pritchard served as purchasing agent for materials to build the new church. In October 1941 it was agreed upon that the new church building would be built near the Autrey Cemetery on M. E. Westall and heirs' property. The building progressed and on November 8, 1942, the first meeting was held in the new church.
Current photo of South Estatoe Baptist Church.