A Brief History of SABC
Starling Avenue Baptist Church was the outgrowth of an ecumenical revival held in “southside” Martinsville in 1929. The area was on the growing edge of the city but there were few churches. Members of First Baptist Church organized a Sunday School which met in the afternoons and soon a tabernacle was built on the present location where services began to be held.
In 1935 the church was chartered with 95 members and Rev. Thomas Fryer, a graduate of Roanoke College and Southern Seminary was called as the first pastor. The energetic young pastor soon had the congregation involved in constructing the present sanctuary, with the area under it serving as fellowship hall and Sunday School space.
The Depression meant that many members were not working full weeks. Banks had not been eager to loan the new congregation funds for the construction. An insurance company finally agreed to make the loan after members put up their homes or bought personal insurance policies as collateral.
Work began with members volunteering their days off in the construction. It was a hands-on project involving faith and commitment on the part of all.
PASTORS. Over the years since the church has been blessed by the leadership of capable pastors:
- Rev. George Simmons, whose served before and after his years as a chaplain in WWII
- Dr. Charles Harmon, who left academia to serve the church during WWII and then went on to serve as the president of Bluefield College
- Rev. Shields Webb
- Dr. Thom Hall, who served between his tenure as Old Testament professor at Southern Seminary and his professorship at VCU
- Dr. Charles “Chuck” Sanks who later was associate pastor at First Baptist, DC
- Rev. John W. Woody was a director of missions in North Carolina prior to his call to SABC
- Dr. David W. Adkins came to the church in 1976 as associate and was called to be pastor after the untimely death of John Woody in 1979
- Rev. Ashley Gill Harrington & Rev. A. Brian Harrington were called to serve Starling Avenue Baptist in a new model of co-pastoring in April 2016. They left in May 2021 and will continue their ministry in Kentucky.
- Dr. Joseph Bryant became interim minister in December 2021. His last day at Starling Avenue Baptist Church was January 1, 2023.
- Rev. Angela Zimmerman began serving Starling Avenue Baptist Church on Tuesday, January 2, 2023.
WOMEN. From the beginning SABC has recognized the gifts and ministry of women. In the 1980s the church elected its first women deacons and was the first church in the association to ordain women to the ministry.
BAPTISTS. A study committee was formed in the 1980’s during the takeover movement in the Southern Baptist Convention, at whose annual meetings we were well represented by messengers. As a result the church affiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and the Alliance of Baptists for missions and gave support to those agencies defunded by the Southern Baptist Convention such as the Baptist World Alliance and the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty.
We are grateful for the heritage and pray that our work will make possible a glowing future of service in God’s mission.
Click here to access a fuller history of the church 1935-2010.
80th Anniversary in 2015
You can hear the sermon from Dr. Curtis Freeman, Director of the Baptist House of Studies at Duke Divinity School, and view a video of the 80th anniversary worship on YouTube.
Dr. Curtis Freeman
A meal followed in the Fellowship Hall.
