VIRGINIA BEACH — Oak Grove Baptist Church in Virginia Beach, which many maintain is the oldest existing church affiliated with the Baptist General Association of Virginia, celebrated its 250th anniversary Oct. 7.
The congregation had prepared for months to ready itself for the occasion. Historical committee members donned coral colored shirts to set them apart and the handbell choir performed a number composed specifically to mark the occasion.
Eddie Heath reads the text of a plaque from the Virginia Baptist Mission Board before presenting it to Anne Bright. (Photos by Jim White) |
Under the leadership of pastor Chuck Moseley, the church, set in a rural area in the southern part of Virginia Beach, is experiencing steady growth as evidenced by the crowd that filled the small sanctuary, two antechambers and an overflow area set up in the fellowship hall.
Visiting dignitaries were introduced. Eddie Heath, field strategist for the Virginia Baptist Mission Board, presented a plaque on behalf of the board and Carl Johnson, BGAV first vice president, brought greetings.
The celebration continued into the afternoon with dinner under an adjacent pavilion and singing provided by visiting choirs from daughter congregations in the area.
In addition to its age, the church is unusual in other respects. British seamen are buried in its cemetery, casualties of a U-boat attack in World War II, their bodies having washed ashore near the church. The church provided funerals and places for them to be laid to rest.
Oak Grove’s congregation awaits the beginning of the Sunday celebration recognizing 250 years of ministry. |
Another rare feature is that the pastor and minister of music and youth are a brother-sister team — literally. Moseley and his sister, Melanie Dinkle, grew up in Great Bridge Baptist Church in Chesapeake, Va., where their father, Charles L. Moseley, was pastor.
In 1762, a church in North Carolina ventured north to start Pungo Baptist Church in an area called by that Indian name. Years later the church would change its name to Oak Grove.
Broad Run Baptist Church in New Baltimore, another BGAV church, also was founded in 1762. Its records indicate the exact month — December. There is no record of what month Oak Grove was organized, but the odds are good it was earlier than December. If so, that would make the congregation the BGAV’s oldest.
Jim White ([email protected]) is executive editor of the Religious Herald.