Church History As far as it can be determined from extant records, there was no church organization and no house of worship in the village of Newberry prior to the organization of the Newberry First Baptist church (now the First Baptist Church of Newberry) in September of 1831. John S. Carwile, then a deacon of Bush River Baptist Church, and several others made arrangements with students from the Furman Theological Institution to hold a protracted meeting in Newberry. A similar meeting had been held in Edgefield Court House. During September, 1831, four young men--N. W. Hodges, J. M. chiles, Josiah Furman and John M. Barnes--came to Newberry and began preaching at a stand, such as was once used for political speakers. As a result of this meeting and mainly of persons baptized during its progress, the Newberry Baptist Church was organized on September 30th, 1831 with Forty-two members. The first pastor of the church, John M. Barnes, has been described as being a young man of attractive pulpit gifts and popular and impressive pastor. The first church building was completed in 1832 and used until 1907, when the present building was constructed. The present building has been enlarged on at least two different occasions, 1926 and 1956. It has been remodeled on several occasions; the most recent being during the summer of 1970 when the front of the sanctuary was remodeled and a new 17 rank Wicks Pipe Organ was installed. The membership of the church now totals more than 665. J. Anderson Bass, Jr., the present pastor, has served the church as pastor for the past eleven years.

1) Mr. & Mrs. Harry Avedisian, Clair & Mary Martha, 2) Mr. & Mrs. Thomas A. Barnette, Sherry, Tommy Jr., & Brenda McNeace, 3) Rev. & Mrs. J. A. Bass Jr., Andy, Blair, & Beth, 4) Mr. & Mrs. George Bedenbaugh, Bryan & Michelle, 5) Mr. & Mrs. Coleman Bishop, Berry & Gail, 6) Mr. & Mrs. Joseph H. Bishop, 7) Mr. & Mrs. Jusdon W. Bishop, Bill & Suzanne, 8) Mrs. Pete Bishop, Jimmy & Robbie, 9) Mr. & Mrs. Robert K. Bishop, 10) Mr. & Mrs. Steve Bishop, & Joe, 11) Mrs. Mary Ellen Blackwell, 12) Mrs. Raymond Blair

1) Mr. & Mrs. William L. Brice, Billy Jr., & Scott, 2) Mr. & Mrs. L. B. Bryan, Ralph, Chuck & Christopher, 3) Hugh & Vickie Burlington, 5) Miss Evelyn & Marguerite Burns, 6) Mr. & Mrs. Charles Bussey, Reane, & Keith, 7) Mr. & Mrs. J. Howard Clark, 8) Mr. & Mrs. Russel Cook, 9) Mr. & Mrs. E. G. Cope, 10) Mrs. A. H. Counts, 11) Mr. & Mrs. A. L. Counts, 12) Mr. & Mrs. John P. Davis, Mary Ann & John Jr., 13) Mr. & Mrs. Hugh A. Dominick, Gregory, John, & Jean, 14) Mr. & Mrs. Don Dowling, 15) Mr. & Mrs. Mike Driggers, Dena & Carla, 16) Mr. & Mrs. Charles E. Dukes, Charlie & Sara

1) Mrs. Harry Dukes, 2) Dr. Thomas E. Epting, 3) Mr. Gene Evans, 4) Mrs. C. E. Fouche, 5) Mrs. L. M. Franklin, 6) Mrs. Jake Fulmer, 7) Mr. & Mrs. Eugene Gantt, Sandy & Karen, 8) Mr. & Mrs. Furman Garner, & Mendell, 9) Mr. & Mrs. S. Wayne Garner, 10) Mr. & Mrs. Wayman Gibson, Drew, James & David, 11) Mrs. Vivian Gilbert, 12) Mr. & Mrs. J. F. Gilfillan, 13) Mr. & Mrs. Willie Gilfillan, 14) Mr. & Mrs. Randy Griffin, & Chris, 15) Miss Juanita & Jessie Hitt

1) Mr. & Mrs. Frank Holsonback, Warren, Richard, & Amelia, 2) Mr. & Mrs. J. H. Holsonback, 3) Mrs. J. L. Huffman, 4) Mr. & Mrs. Virgil Huffstetter, 5) Dr. & Mrs. E. M. Hughes, Meg, Holly & Mike, 6) Mr. & Mrs. Pat Hughes, Jeannie, & Louis, 7) Mr. & Mrs. M. M. Hursey, 8) Mr. & Mrs. J. S. Hutchinson, Paul, Daniel, & Mr. & Mrs. Marshall, 9) Mrs. Sara Jackson, 10) Mr. & Mrs. Jack Jenkins, 11) Mrs. Eleanor D. Johnson, 12) Mr. & Mrs. Finis G. Johnson, 13) Mr. & Mrs. Mickey F. Johnson, & Mike, 14) Mr. & Mrs. C. L. Johnson Jr., 15) Mr. & Mrs. P. D. Johnson Jr.

1) Mr. & Mrs. Jerry Jones, Chris & Joey, 2) Mr. & Mrs. L. S. Jones Jr., & Mary, 3) Mrs. Myrtle O. Jones, 4) Mr. & Mrs. Willie Jones, 5) Mrs. Gertrude Julian, 6) Mr. & Mrs. J. V. Kneece, 7) Mr. & Mrs. Gordon S. Leslie Jr., Patricia, Stuart, & Lee, 8) Mrs. J. S. Lide, 9) Mr. & Mrs. Bob Lister, 10) Mr. & Mrs. Frazier Lominack, 11) Mr. & Mrs. Heber Long, Alison & Josh, 12) Mr. & Mrs. Joel B. Long, Blair & Derek, 13) Mr. & Mrs. Thomas E. Longshore Sr., 14) Mr. & Mrs. Richard March, Eileen & Greg, 15) Mrs. Ernest Martin

1) Mrs. Ida L. Martin, 2) Mr. M. A. Mason Jr., 3) Mr. & Mrs. E. H. Mathis, Julie & Blair, 4) Mr. & Mrs. Preston McAlhany, Ann, Mary & Margie, 5) Mrs. Lucia O. McGill, 6) Mr. & Mrs. Charles G. Messer, Desiree, & Jeffrey, 7) Mr. & Mrs. Steve Muirhead, 8) Mr. & Mrs. D. W. Newton, 9) Mr. & Mrs. Robert C. O'Dell, 10) Mr. & Mrs. J. A. Parknan, 11) Mrs. Ethel Parks, 12) Mrs. Gloria Parks, 13) Mrs. Leila C. Phillips, 14) Mr. & Mrs. George O. Porter, 15) Mr. & Mrs. s. M. Price

1) Mrs. Jinnie Pruitt, 2) Mr. & Mrs. B. E. Riley, 3) Mr. & Mrs. Bill Riley, Claire & Eddie, 4) Mrs. Mary B. Rossiter, 5) Mrs. Maude Sanders, 6) Mr. & Mrs. Larry Senn, Marcia, & Wayne, 7) Mrs. Hubert Setzler, 8) Mr. & Mrs. W. H. Shackelford, Billy, Marc, & Paul, 9) Mr. & Mrs. C. William Smith, Patrick, Amy, 10) Mrs. Parnell Sprawls, 11) Mrs. Charles Sterling, 12) Mr. & Mrs. Everette Sterling, 13) Mr. & Mrs. Furman Sterling, 14) Mr. & Mrs. J. D. Stone, 15) Mr. Adrain N. Summer Jr.

1) Mrs. Gail Snoford, 2) Mr. & Mrs. W. C. Tarrer, 3) Mrs. Ruby Trice and Mr. Coke Dickert, 4) Mr. & Mrs. George Turner, Cynthia & Dick, 5) Mrs. W. E. Turner, 6) Mr. & Mrs. W. E. Turner Jr., Bill, Len & Wayne, 7) Mr. & Mrs. Bob Underwood & Marle, 8) Dr. & Mrs. James A. Underwood Jr., Nancy, Elizabeth, James A. III, & Julie Carol, 9) Mr. & Mrs. Cliff Waites Sr., 10) Mr. & Mrs. James Ward & Stephanie, 11) Mrs. Henrietta Warren, 12) Mr. & Mrs. N. B. Warren Jr., Margaret, Beverly, & David, 13) Mr. & Mrs. Billye West, Misty, Billye, & Tiffany, 14) Mr. & Mrs. Ralph Whitaker, 15) Mr. & Mrs. Sloan Wilson

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