Solid Rock Missionary Baptist Church
       
A history Lesson About The Rock
Church Pasters       Church Photos    First Members    Inspirational  -  2  - 3     


The Church was organized on November 25, 1925 under the guidance and leadership of Rev. W.R. Monroe. After one year of service Rev. Monroe submitted his resignation. His resignation was accepted and the following members were appointed to the Deacon Board: Mr. T.E. Malloy, Mr. James Terry, Mrs. Jerry Davis, Mr. John Shaw, Mr. Luther Campbell, Mr. Frank McLean, Mr. Henry Plunket, Mr. Monroe LeGrande, Mr. William Gales, Mr. Donnie McNeill, Mr. Grannison Monroe, Mr. Will McLeod, Mr. Will Rhodes, Mr. Carey Stewart, and Mr. T. Buchanan.

The first members were: Mrs. Alexander Shaw, Mrs. Bessie Cole, Mrs. Caroline Terry, Mr. Brooks James, Mr. Les Ellerbee, Mrs. Mary Henderson Easterling, Mrs. Kattie Evans, Mrs. Florence Malloy, Mr. & Mrs. Luther Campbell, Mrs. Esther Liles, Mrs. Narciss McNair, and Mrs. Florence P. Bennett, of whom only Mrs. Kattie Evans survives.

The past year of 1925 gave us experiences of joy and sorrow, advanced and reserves, accomplishments and defeats and therefore we deacons and members decided to call Rev. C.J. Cooper to serve as our pastor. In December 1926 he came to Laurinburg. Many things of significance happened in the life of our church during that past year, but possibly the greatest achievement was that of the further development of a closer knit spirit of unity in our church family, of faith, of hope, of love and cooperation.

From it’s beginning the church services were held in an old theatre, which was located on the present site of Scotland Concrete Company. In 1930 the old Galilee Methodist Church was purchased and became Solid Rock Missionary Baptist Church.

The church was organized on November 25, 1925 under the guidance and leadership of Rev. W.R. Monroe. After one year of service Rev. Monroe submitted his resignation. His resignation was accepted and the following members were appointed to the Deacon Board: Mr. T.E. Malloy, Mr. James Terry, Mrs. Jerry Davis, Mr. John Shaw, Mr. Luther Campbell, Mr. Frank McLean, Mr. Henry Plunket, Mr. Monroe LeGrande, Mr. William Gales, Mr. Donnie McNeill, Mr. Grannison Monroe, Mr. Will McLeod, Mr. Will Rhodes, Mr. Carey Stewart, and Mr. T. Buchanan.

The first members were: Mrs. Alexander Shaw, Mrs. Bessie Cole, Mrs. Caroline Terry, Mr. Brooks James, Mr. Les Ellerbee, Mrs. Mary Henderson Easterling, Mrs. Kattie Evans, Mrs. Florence Malloy, Mr. & Mrs. Luther Campbell, Mrs. Esther Liles, Mrs. Narciss McNair, and Mrs. Florence P. Bennett, of whom only Mrs. Kattie Evans survives.

The past year of 1925 gave us experiences of joy and sorrow, advanced and reserves, accomplishments and defeats and therefore we deacons and members decided to call Rev. C.J. Cooper to serve as our pastor. In December 1926 he came to Laurinburg. Many things of significance happened in the life of our church during that past year, but possibly the greatest achievement was that of the further development of a closer knit spirit of unity in our church family, of faith, of hope, of love and cooperation.

In the beginning the church services were held in an old theatre, which was located on the present site of Scotland Concrete From Company. In 1930 the old Galilee Methodist Church was purchased and became Solid Rock Missionary Baptist Church.
Under the dynamic, outstanding "Help Me Somebody" leadership of our hard-driving pastor Rev. Cooper, who sacrificed tirelessly, we were aware, as never before that there can be no foot dragging in God's program here on earth. His powerful leadership kept us on the move.
Ministers ordained and licensed to the Gospel Ministry under Rev. Cooper's leadership were: Rev. William McDuffie, Rev. Paul Robinson, Rev. H.R. Maynor, Rev. J.D. Terry, Rev. Sylvester Chambers, Rev. John B. Smith, Rev. John Douglas, Rev. J.J. McRainey, and Rev. John W. Davis.

And so, Solid Rock Baptist Church moves on into the future, adding to the deacon board Mr. AT Rogers in 1948 and Mr. Columbus Quick and Mr. Freddie Williamson in 1953.
As a Baptist Church we move on to greater activities for service to mankind and the glory of God, adding to the deacon board Mr. Bill Carter, Mr. James Ellerbee and Mr. Brooks James in 1957. We wanted to enter the associational year 19621963 with a greater faith and stronger courage. Thus we added to the deacon board: Mr. Ervin Covington, Mr. Eston Johnson and Mr. James Ware. The years passed fast and we have found out that our pastor is a man of understanding, wisdom and vision; the growth of our church has been continuous by virtue of the sincere interest shown by him. In 1968 Mr. Hinton Lucas, Mr. Tyrone Settles, and Mr. Joseph L. Biggs were added to the deacon board and Mr. Farley Harrington in 1973. In 1980 we added Mr. Delma Ratliff, Sr. Mr. John W. McNair, Jr., and Mr. Lawrence Jackson, Jr. under the ministry of Rev. Leroy E. Davis. Last but not lease we were blessed with three additional deacons in 1985 under the ministry of Rev. Albert S. Davis, Mr. John Alford, Mr. Alvin Pankey, and Mr. Frank Farley. We are grateful to these men for their timely suggestions and counseling.

Trustees added through the years were: Mr. Lawrence Jackson, Jr., Mr. James Hines, Mr. Marion Harris, Mr. Ezra Lytch, Mr. Edward Shaw, Mr. Pratt Bethea, Mr. Willie Harp, Mr. Roscoe Coleman, Mr. Ivan Campbell, Mr. Delma Ratliff, Sr., Mr. Elijah Brown, Mr. Boyd Wade, Mr. Archie Swindell, Sr., Mr. Anzell Harrell, Sr., Mr. Tom Scales, Mr. Fred Ratliff, Mr. Ben McNeill, Mr. Curtis Leak, Mr. Hallie Johnson, Mr. Frank Brown, Mr. James Hamilton, Mr. William Dockery, Mr. Angus Jones, and in 1980, Mr. Pearlie Bostick, Mr. Eugene Harris, Mr. Charles H. McEachin, Mr. Joseph C. Settles, Mr. Earlie Williams, Sr., and Mr. Alvin Pankey, Mr. James L. Brown in 1983.

In the span of two years, the faith of the church was tested when it met with two physical atrocities. In 1966 a tornado severely damaged the roof of the building and on October 11, 1968, the church sanctuary was totally destroyed by fire. Without hesitation, the following persons were appointed to the building committee: Mr. Lawrence Jackson, Jr., Chairman Mr. Edward Shaw, Mr. Angus Jones, Mr. Armon Harp, Sr., Mr. Wellington Breeden, and Rev. C.J. Cooper.

We thanked God and the many members and friends who came to our aid. Various churches in the city offered us the use of their buildings. However, because the fire did not damage the Educational Building, we were able to use the basement for our worship services. On Sunday, January 24, 1971 we moved into and dedicated our new sanctuary, praising and thanking God for giving us the initiative to overcome this ordeal.

Our church continued to grow and Rev. Cooper celebrated his 48th Anniversary on the second Sunday in December 1974. One month later, on January 27,1975, he was called from labor to reward. Our hearts were deeply saddened because Rev. Cooper was the only pastor many of the members had ever known at Solid Rock. However, we realized that Rev. Cooper had fought a good fight, had finished his course, had kept the faith and had gone to receive his crown of righteousness.

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