We are a Southern Baptist Church engaged in and supporting the mission of God in the world

through personnel and church-wide efforts and the cooperative program. 

​

​

Core Values and Purpose Statement of Olive Branch Baptist Church:

Salvation, Prayer, Authority of the Bible, Lordship of Christ, The Great Comission,

Loving Relationships, Godly Leadership, Biblical Financial Stewardship, & Engaging Small Groups

​

Purpose Statement:

Olive Branch Baptist Church exists to go and make disciples of Christ through prayer, fellowship, worship, missions and ministry.

​

Vision Statement: 

Building a better Olive Branch to further God's kingdom here.

​

​

​

A little history. . . 

​

• On Sunday, September 19, 1897 in a little schoolhouse near here Olive Branch Baptist Church was constituted by a dedicated group of people brought together by God. They formed a covenant together which stated their purpose in its first line. “Having been as we trust, brought by divine grace to embrace the Lord Jesus Christ and to give ourselves wholly to Him, we do solemnly covenant with each other to walk together in brotherly love to His glory”.

• God put a giving heart in the people from the first. A.H. Edwards gave the land, Dennis Kelehar gave the logs, and J. R. Griner sawed the lumber.  Construction was set to begin on Monday, January 17, 1898 with a congregational work day.

• God gave the people a heart to work and in less than a month, on February 13, 1898 Olive Branch met for the first time in its new building. That first Sunday, blocks with boards on them were used as seats and somehow they had an organ for music.

• The Spirit of brotherly love was also present in those first years where in 1899 we see a request in the minutes from two members asking for and receiving permission for a leave of absence from the church for a while, with the understanding they would let the church hear from them by letter at least once every three months.

• God also gave the church a Spirit of Co-operation as seen in their 1899 application to join the Local Baptist Association of area churches.

• The people’s appetite for God’s word grew and in April 1901 the church began its Sunday school program.

• By 1902 we see the first recorded mission offering where the church collected $2.35 for the Orphans home. Nurtured by the Holy Spirit their mission’s spirit grew and in November of that same year $15.00 was taken up for State Missions.

• In 1903 we see an example of how God taught these early believers to bear one another’s burdens when $48.00 was given by the church to one of the brethren whose horse had died.

•  Of course, it was not all rosy in those early years, there are several examples of members who were disciplined for various charges of non-attendance, swearing and even dancing, but we also see where people came back and asked for forgiveness and the church welcomed them back.

• Every year new members were added and the church grew.  The church continued to be generous to others, locally, sending the entire collection for one Sunday to Portal Baptist during a time of need, and not so locally, sending $15.00 to American Orphans at the request of President Woodrow Wilson, and supporting offerings for foreign missions.

• In 1928 the Ladies Missionary Society was formed at Olive Branch.

• During the depression, money was scarce so people gave the produce from one acre of land this was called “God’s one acre.” Also 1 pig out of their first litter of pigs and this was called “the pigs plan.”

• In 1937 we gave $35.00 to the Cooperative Program. 

• In 1941 we decided to have Vacation Bible School the lst week of May and the 1st week in June.

• In 1948 the church voted to have a Homecoming Day the first Sunday in October, a tradition we have not changed to this day.

• In 1954 we added a spring revival in addition to our regular fall revival giving us two a year.

• In 1959 we built a pastorium on land given by Mr. & Mrs. Ernest Lowe. 

• In the 60’s the Church used a school bus body for additional Sunday school rooms and began the mission at Blitchton which would become Blitchton Baptist Church.  The church also began having Family night supper on business meeting nights.  We voted to add side rooms and additional Sunday school rooms to the sanctuary.

• In 1974 we started building a social hall and it was completed in 7 months.

• In 1979 cushions were put on the pews.  That same year we started giving a new bible to each person we baptized.  The church continued to prosper and grow. 

• In 1981 WMU had their 1st Sunday Breakfast for Focus on WMU Week.  Also we had our 1st WMU prayer retreat at Starling Lake (lake belonged to parents of Gina Starling Wall).

• In 1989 a new pastorium was built and we sold the old pastorium. Additional Sunday school rooms and a porch extension were constructed.  All the while the church added activities, programs and carried out ministries galore every year.

• In 1997 the Emma Edwards Gardner Library was begun and a steeple was put up for our 100th Centennial.

• In 1998 a Tornado came.  It was the week before Easter.  Our community and many church members suffered great loss, but our spirit was strong in the Lord.  The choir performed the Easter cantata as the church met outside around the ruins.  We continued to meet and held our spring revival in the social hall while we re-built.   Everyone helped each other and within a few months most of the construction was over though many scars remained.

• Since then God has blessed us with this new sanctuary. In the year 2000 we dedicated the corner stone and set up a 50-year time capsule. In the early 2000’s, Pete Wall and Art Tarver were Ordained and sent out to pastor other churches. 

• David C. Forro resigned after serving as our pastor for over 16 years.  He will be greatly missed.

• In July 2008, we hired Danny Mock to play our piano on Sunday nights and he became the choir director soon after.

• On August 3, 2008, we called Clint Sullens as our pastor.

• In May 2009 we voted to build a new Sunday school Annex.

• In August 2010, we began taking up a “Freewill offering” the 1st Sunday of each month to go towards the new Sunday School Annex building. In February 2011, we took up the carpet in the Old Sanctuary, which is now the Fellowship Building leaving the original wooden floors from 1898. In May the Church ordained Benjamin Long and Don Plankenhorn and reinstated Randy Long as an active Deacon.  That summer the Church purchased an enclosed cargo trailer for the Mission Team and any other organizations that may need it for hauling luggage and/or equipment. 

• In July 2012, Olive Branch hosted a “Men of Faith” Weekend.  Motlow Creek Baptist Church from Campabello, SC and Rosebud Baptist Church of Loganville, GA plus men from area churches attended.

• Our church paid off the new Sunday school building with free will offerings.

• In 2016 Olive Branch gave over $40,000 to Missions, and had the best Bible school ever with 155 in average attendance.

• In 2017, We added a new room on to our parsonage to be the master bedroom. Our men put a new roof on a family’s house and helped a brother put an addition on his house. 

• In November 2018 the church purchased the piece of land in the triangle of the roads between Heape Drive and Olive Branch Road from Charles Kangeter.

• In 2019 we rewrote the church’s Constitution and By-laws. A paid position was created for an Administrative Assistant and Melaina Joyner was hired. We participated in a Ball-a-rama at Hendrix Park and a free hotdog and chips meal was offered to all in attendance.  Our country was hit by a “Covid” pandemic.  We had to close the church for months because so many people in the area were affected and some died.  We first started having drive-up church and then later reopened the church with two services sitting on every 3rd pew. Pastor Clint Sullens resigned in December 2020 after serving over 12 years.

• In March 2021 Danny Mock was hired full time as our minister of Music. May 2021 church voted to build a new sanctuary.  Erin Gardner, in memory of her mother, Mrs. Emma Gardner has pledged a million dollars to go towards the new sanctuary.  The church hired Pearce Building Systems of Statesboro, Ga as the general contractor for the project.

• August 2021, Olive Branch voted to call former member, Evangelist Pete Wall as our Interim Pastor while we seek a new full time pastor.   We are still affected by the Covid pandemic but we are having Sunday school and worship service each Sunday.  Choir practice has started back and the children’s activities and prayer meetings on Wednesday nights.

• October 2021, Because of Covid the Homecoming meal was catered for the first time.

• April 2021, a tornado went through Pembroke, and the Black Creek Community.  One life was lost in a subdivision not far from the church with extensive damage to some church members.  Springfield Baptist Church came and did a benefit sing with over $3000.00 being raised.  This was given to 3 families to help with repairs.

• On September 8, 2022 we held an Official Ground Breaking Ceremony for the new sanctuary.  To make room for the new sanctuary the social hall that was built in 1974 had to be torn down. 

• We have highlighted a few of the activities of Olive Branch Baptist Church from 1897-2022; we have had many dedicated Christians who worked for our church to progress as it has.

​