First Waughtown Baptist Church will commemorate 160 years in Winston-Salem during this weekend’s homecoming celebration. The church's spiritual heritage dates back to the end of the Civil War and the public announcement of freedom delivered in Salem on May 21, 1865.
Church leaders formed the congregation the following year, holding services in the cabin of John and Mary Linebach Fries. Historian Spencer McCall says it was the area’s first Black-owned and controlled institution.
"That was an amazing effort for people of color at that time, just one year beyond freedom," says McCall. "And also to have marriages performed and have funerals performed under their own guise, their own leadership, sanctioned by a minister who looked like them."
Services eventually moved to the community’s Freedmen’s School, and a permanent chapel was built in 1913.
Dennis Bishop has been with the church since 1975, becoming senior pastor in 1983. He credits First Waughtown’s longevity to a continued focus on youth, education and staying connected.
"Us still going out into the community, just walking and exercising, and speaking to people, and us looking out for each other," he says. "We have dinners that we just give to people that need meals. I think that interaction is what has kept us as a staple of this community."
The Homecoming Worship Service is Sunday at First Waughtown Baptist Church in Winston-Salem. Festivities begin with a 160th Anniversary Gala on Saturday night in Clemmons.