JOHNSON CITY — In 1772, four years before the United States of America was formed, a Baptist church was established on the banks of Sinking Creek in present day Johnson City.
On Sunday, Sept. 18, members of Sinking Creek Baptist Church, celebrated the 250th anniversary of the oldest church in both the Tennessee Baptist Convention and the state of Tennessee.
“It is a great honor to be pastor during this momentous occasion and follow in the footsteps of so many giants in the faith,” said pastor Chuck Babb.
“We emphasize that this church would have long ago ceased to exist without the providence and power of God,” he noted. “We are not special but our history is unique,” Babb affirmed.
The pastor observed that God has sustained Sinking Creek through Indian attacks, revolution, financial ruin that threatened the early republic, the American Civil War, World War I, a Great Depression, World War II, the Korean War, a divisive war in Vietnam and the conflicts to follow.
“In all these things, Sinking Creek has found that God is faithful, that nothing can separate us from His love and that not even the gates of hell can prevail against God’s church. All glory belongs to Him!”
Babb recalled that the church was organized by a great gathering of Baptists and patriots.
Founding pastor Matthew Talbot, preached courageously in a period when preaching could send them to jail, even in the American colonies, he noted. The faith of the founding members was a driving force in the formation of Sinking Creek and this country for that matter, he added.
“These patriots yearned for religious freedom and fought for it valiantly. There were 51 men and one woman who were members of this congregation that fought to free America from England. Some of them paying the ultimate price with their lives,” Babb related.
In 1783, the early members built a church out of logs that still stands on the church’s property, located on the Elizabethton Highway on the outskirts of Johnson City.
Church historian Eddie Fields shared about the historic building with a Johnson City television station in 2019 when the church began raising funds to help restore the church, which can no longer be used for gatherings due to safety concerns.
In the 1960s, the original building was damaged when a runaway truck slammed into the structure, Fields told WJHL TV. “It’s pretty amazing it survived all that — Indians and wars and trucks. But it’s still here,” he said.
The service on Sept. 18 included several live and videotaped greetings and congratulatory remarks from Baptists and political leaders across the state, including Governor Bill Lee, U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, and state senator Rusty Crowe and other local leaders who presented the church a proclamation from the state.
The service attracted many guests including 24 descendants of Matthew Talbot, the founding pastor.
Jack Roddy, director of missions for Watauga Baptist Association, presented the church a plaque from the Tennessee Baptist Historical Committee and thanked the church for its support of the association over the years.
Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, recorded a special message for the church.
“On behalf of our 3,200 churches, I want to congratulate you on 250 years of ministry right here in our state. You actually have helped start, in one way or another, the other 3,200 churches. Being first in the state is a big deal.”
Davis also noted that more than 1,700 people have come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior through the ministries of Sinking Creek Baptist Church. He also thanked the church for being a leader in giving through the Cooperative Program and Golden Offering for Tennessee Missions as well as other mission offerings to support Southern Baptist ministries and ministries and missionaries at home and around the world.
“God bless you and keep up the great work,” Davis said.
Gov. Lee noted that for the past 250 years, Sinking Creek Baptist Church “has been the hands and feet of Jesus in your local community and across Tennessee. You have been a blessing to people near and far. I am grateful for your work to make families and communities stronger.”
Phil Harris, youth director at Sinking Creek for 31 years, has been at the church his entire life, except for the four years he served in the Air Force. His dad, the late Reece Harris, was the longest tenured pastor at Sinking Creek, serving from 1961 until 2012.
Harris noted the heritage of the church and the countless people over the years “who have made an impact in the church and the surrounding community. … Just to be part of the 250th anniversary is an honor and a blessing,” he said.
Babb observed that what really sustains a church is the preaching and teaching of the Word of God without watering it down,” he said.
“We need to preserve our past while continuing to reach people in the future,” he maintained. B&R