Elmdale Baptist Church Sanctuary
In 1904, the Elmdale community had a joint Sunday school comprised of Baptists, Methodists, and Church of Christs. Each group took turns conducting the morning worship hour. The Baptist families felt the leadership of the Lord to organize a Baptist Sunday School. As a result, the Elmdale Baptist Church came into being. There were seven charter members who organized the church: Mr. & Mrs. T. H. Antilley, Mr. & Mrs. Boone, and three members of the Kemp family.
Brother Frank Dillard held a revival meeting in 1906 and was later called as the first pastor. Training Union was added to the evening service in 1920.
In October, 1924, two acres of land was donated by Judge K. K. Legett for the church to use as long as it existed. A one room building was erected on this site and classes were divided by curtains. Heat for the building was provided by 2 pot-bellied wood stoves.
The church met the requirements set up by the Southern Baptist Convention and became a Sunday school in 1930 and attendance continued to grow. Brother T. I. Nipp was called as pastor in 1938 and because of the growth of the church, a new building was needed. An office building from an oil company in Ranger was purchased, disassembled, brought to Elmdale and reassembled by the men of the church. The old, small church building was remodeled into the first parsonage.
A fire destroyed the parsonage and it was replaced with a rock parsonage which was in use until the current parsonage was built in 1995. The church building with all church records was destroyed by fire on August 6, 1945. Services were held at the Elmdale School until a chapel from Camp Barkley was purchased and moved to its current location. The first service in the new building was held on February 12, 1947. The north annex was added in 1951 and the baptistry and rest rooms were added in 1953.
In 1961, the interior of the sanctuary was completely remodeled with mahogany paneling, new paint, and central heat and air. James and Oscar Rose deeded land adjacent to the south grounds in 1964 which made it possible for the church to build a new south annex. The fourteen room building was completed and dedicated on April 25, 1967. Another one and a half acres on the south side of the building were purchased in 1992 for further expansion when needed.
In 2010, a new multi-use building was added for use as a fellowship hall and recreation center.
Because of the heritage of our rural roots of worship planted by those seven charter members, Elmdale Baptist Church still stands today as a testimony of the goodness and faithfulness of our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that the generations to come will cherish this legacy and continue this commitment.