About Us / Our History

As the 20th century began, a group of Baptists met to explore the possibilites of forming a new "family of the faith" in Mauldin.  The date was July 21, 1904.  The location of the meeting was an old-fashioned brush arbor on the property of George W. Thompson.  Based on the decisions made in this meeting, Mauldin Baptist Church was organized one month later on August 21, 1904.  Sixty charter members joined and the first officers and deacons were elected.  On that same day the church elected its first building committee . . . charged with the task of housing this fledgling congregation.

Land for the church was donated by Mary and Lucinda Owens, two sisters from Mauldin's founding family.  It was adjacent to their family cemetery (now the location of the church cemetery).  More land was donated and the first building was constructed.

The first building had only one room, which was heated by a pot-bellied stove.  In the summer, air conditioning was provided by opening the windows and using cardboard fans, donated by local funeral homes.  To provide Sunday School space, wires were strung across the one room building and curtains hung as dividers.

For the next 43 years, the church grew and expanded under the leadership of part-time pastors.  In the 1920's Sunday School, Baptist Young People's Union, Women's Mission Union and other organizations were founded.  By this time, church membership had doubled in size.

By 1933, the first building expansion was completed with the addition of seven classrooms across the back the white frame structure.  Ironically, the lumber for the expansion was donated by W. R. Corn after a tornado struck and leveled the woods on his farm. (Proving again that God always provides!)

During the depression of the 1930's, the church took on Greenville County -- the issue was a road.  In this instance it was a petition to widen the road leading to the church.  After much prodding the road was widened.  By 1938 membership had grown to 240.

In 1944 another building project was completed with the addition of a vestibule to the front of the church.  As the congregation grew and its needs increased, the church called Rev. W. T. Reid as its first full-time pastor in 1948.  The first parsonage was also purchased in 1948.

By the mid-1950's, the church had grown to 370 members and a building committee was formed for the construction of a new sanctuary.  The building was dedicated on August 14, 1955, seven days shy of the church's 51st anniversary.  The day also marked the first indoor baptism at the church.

In June 1957, Rev. William M. Page Jr became pastor of the church.  His pastorate marked a period of accelerated growth for the church.  In 1969, the second educational wing with a fellowship hall as well as an activities building were added.  Membership by this time had grown to almost 1000.  As the church continued to grow during the 1970's and 1980's, the need became evident for a larger building for worship and offices.  The current worship and office complex was dedicated on June 17, 1984.

In April 1986, Rev. Page retired after overseeing 29 years of strong growth at First Baptist Chruch of Mauldin.  In October of that year Dr. Michael Glenn began his pastorate here and served until August 1991.  Rev. Gary Strickland was called as Associate Pastor in March 1991 and then was chosen to succeed Mike Glenn as pastor in January 1992.

At little over 100 years and with more than 2100 members, First Baptist Church of Mauldin has been expanding its facilites to accomodate the anticipated growth in people by building a fellowship hall and much needed educational space.  These facilities opened in May 1999.

In June 2000, Rev. Wade Leonard was called to serve as Associate Pastor for Adult Ministry and Outreach.  Dr. Strickland served as Senior Pastor until June 2007 and Rev. Wade Leonard became Senior Pastor on February 28, 2008.

The future is exciting as God invites us to follow Him in new ventures of ministry that have taken us into a new century and a new millennium of service.