In the latter part of 1920 and 1921 the logs began rolling for the Laurel Ridge Congregation to start a building of their own. At that time our people were sharing Kittinger’s Chapel with the Lutherans and the Brethren as their place of worship. The logs were sawed and I.M. Walker, O.F. Hunt, Garland Price, O.C. Simpson, H.L. Kirkwood, and T.H. Martin began planning the building, just a sanctuary, on the property donated by the Tinnell family. The structure, built by “free labor”, was ready to be dedicated as Haran Baptist Church in the fall of 1924. At that time the preaching service was held only on the fourth Sunday of each month. Although Sunday School was held every Sunday. Some years later a second preaching service was added on the second Sunday of each month.
Around 1950, growing pains were felt and a new sanctuary was erected with the old one divided into classrooms. The new sanctuary was dedicated in June, 1952.
The first full-time pastor, Rev. Donald Knapp, was called in January, 1961. Again, growing pains were felt, a new wing was built for classrooms, and the sanctuary was enlarged. The new building was dedicated in August, 1964.
In the early 1970’s, our people began expressing a desire to remodel the sanctuary, enlarge the choir area, and air-condition the sanctuary. This desire took concrete form in June, 1974, when the church voted to secure the services of an architect to provide us with a scheme for remodeling. After a year of hard work, we had our first worship service in our beautiful new area on Youth Sunday, June 1, 1975.
In the fall of 1987, we voted to explore the possibility of building an addition that would include a fellowship hall, new restrooms and Sunday School classrooms. The preliminary plans were approved in February, 1988. Final plans were approved in the fall of 1990. The church voted to secure the services of R.L. Price Construction, Inc. as the builder. On April 7, 1991 the ground breaking service for the new building was held.
Haran Baptist Church has been at the present site almost 90 years. In a unique way our building reflects the history of those years. The building is a combination of the past and the present, the old and the new. Just as the oldest structure is still a vital part of our present church building, so is the faith of all those who labored in this vineyard before we arrived. They nurtured us in Christ, and without their faithful work we would not be here today. May we keep the rich heritage of Haran Baptist Church alive for the next 90 years and may we be found faithful in our work as those who have come before us.
