Our
History On Sunday, January 17, 1886 a few families met
in the name of the Lord at a rented house of worship on the
Robertson place south of the Citronelle Depot. The first
parishioners of the church were: E.S. Trigg and his wife
Martha; Mrs. J.C. Coleman; Miss Mattie Coleman; J.B.
Davidson and his wife Alice B.; Mrs. A.P. Smith and her
daughter; Miss Mary Smith; Mrs. Soleto Collins; and Mr.
Charles A. Burch and his wife Mrs. Fannie Burch. They were
aided by Elder J.B. Hamberlin, Pastor of the Palmetto Street
Church of Mobile, who had been preaching once a month for
almost a year. After adopting a Declaration of Faith and the
Church Covenant, they were recognized as a Baptist Church;
Burch, Hamberlin, and Davidson was chosen as trustees.
The church continued to meet at the rented house for .95
cents per month. A Sunday school was started on October 30,
1886. The church began to raise funds to erect a building of
their own. The first building, which was located directly
south of the old Andrews building on Main Street, was used
on May 25, 1890 for the first time.
As the church continued to grow, the early 1900’s were
characterized by short pastorates and inadequate salaries.
The church disposed of the old site on September 21, 1921,
and the deeds to the property on Mobile Street (directly
across from the old Post Office and Citronelle Drug) were
dated July 6, 1921. The building was moved on rollers to the
new location.
Through the next twenty years the church faced stability
and financial problems, like most areas of the country due
to the depression and the second World War. However, in 1944
the church called Rev. N. Roscoe Griffin as pastor. Under
his able leadership, the church began to awaken and measure
up to its potential. Plans for enlarging the Mobile Street
property were abandoned and on August 30, 1944, the
church voted to sell the property and purchased a site on
the corner of Hwy. 45 and LeBaron Ave, on which a
brick auditorium and educational building would be erected
at a cost of $25,000. The property consisted of a six acre
tract which was purchased for $7000. The northern lots of
the property were sold to Fletcher Smith, leaving the church
with approximately 31/2 acres. Under Lee Platt’s direction
as the construction foreman, the new church was completed to
a usable degree. The work was done by members of the church
and the Citronelle community at large.
Dr.
Homer Roberson served as pastor of the church from
April of 1953 until September of 1957. The church changed
greatly during his period, as oil was discovered in
Citronelle, increasing the church’s budget and leading to
further improvements. Sidewalks were set and fire escapes
were added, drawings for and educational annex were
prepared, and the church added new staff members in the form
of organist, Music Director, Secretary, and Nursery
Attendant. During this later part of his tenure, the name of
our church was changed from Citronelle Baptist Church to...
THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH
In March of 1958, Dr. E.L. Scruggs took over as pastor and
he served until 1962. During this period, the church began
to grow greatly in number; Church membership was 488,
average Sunday school attendance was 236, and Training Union
was 100. After Dr. Scruggs left, the church called Rev. Drew
as pastor.
In July of 1965, Rev. V.O. McMillan came to the pastorate
after serving as a missionary in Japan for 10 years. The
mission program of the church continued to grow in numbers
and depth as two church plants were sponsored by our
congregation. However, in the early 1970’s Brookley Field
had phased out and we lost many families from our church,
and attendance was down.
In 1972 the church called Dr. Paul Smith to fill the
pastorate position. The church saw the need of many new
projects including a Recreational Building and stained glass
windows. The Recreational Building was put on hold, but the
stained glass windows were purchased in memory of loved ones
and installed in 1973.
Smith resigned in March of 1974, and Rev. Cleo Duke served
as interim pastor in 1974 when rev. Charles Kernells became
pastor. At that time, the membership was counted as 287
resident members.
Kernells stayed until 1975. 1976 is when Johnny Tucker took
over. He remained until 1977, and he was followed by
Grantison Smith, who remained until 1981. During this time
the church dedicated its Family Activity Center on May 3,
1981.
Dr. W.C. Dobbs came to the church as an interim pastor from
1981 through 1982, when he was succeeded by Rev. Charles
Griffith.
In 1986, the church opened its former Sunday school rooms
beneath the sanctuary as a daycare center serving families
all over Citronelle.
Since 1986, the church has had a few more men to pastor the
church including Rev. Jeff Vanlandingham from 1994-2002.
During this time the church experienced significant growth,
along with many new programs designed for families, with a
church membership of 470 and Sunday School averaging 166.
On September 24,
2003, the church was hit with the hardest tragedy in
the history of the church. The church building on Hwy. 45
was looked upon with tears in our eyes as the flames
engulfed it. The fire, which started in the attic, quickly
left our church body without a building. Over the next three
years the church met at Camp Whispering Pines for a short
period before finding our new temporary home at Citronelle
High School, in the auditorium. Those three years were hard,
but the dedication of extraordinary men and women in our
church met together, and new plans were voted on and agreed
by our church to re-locate to the current property on the
corner of State and Fifth Street. The new building was
completed and our church moved in during March of 2006.
We have had 39 pastors throughout our 121 years of
fellowship including our current pastor, who we are thankful
for and love, Dr. Elbert D. Charpie. We are grateful and
blessed to have the privilege to serve our God in this
community!
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