Centreville Baptist Church Gets a New Roof
By Mike Hobson
Workers high above Centreville’s Court House Square have been busy this week removing the aging roof from Centreville Baptist Church and installing new shingles. It’s a routine maintenance project for a building that has occupied its prominent downtown location for generations, but the activity offers an opportunity to recall a remarkable chapter in the history of one of Centreville’s oldest congregations.
Centreville Baptist Church traces its beginning to 1890, when sixteen members of Mount Zion Baptist Church organized a new congregation in Centreville. At that time, Centreville Presbyterian Church was the town’s only established church.
The new Baptist congregation erected its first building on a hill a short distance east of Court House Square, near the location of today’s Centreville City Hall.
For more than three decades, the congregation worshipped at that location before undertaking construction of a new brick church on Court House Square.
In September 1922, the new building was opened with a memorable community celebration. Members of the Baptist congregation marched from their original church to the new building, accompanied by members of the Presbyterian and Methodist churches.
It must have been quite a sight as the procession made its way through downtown Centreville. The occasion marked not only a milestone for the Baptist congregation but also an expression of fellowship among the town’s churches.
The new church was the first brick church building erected on Court House Square. With its imposing columns and distinctive domed roof, it became one of the most recognizable buildings in downtown Centreville.
For more than four decades, the building served the congregation until tragedy struck on a cold January afternoon.
In January 1966 a fire that apparently began in the basement spread through the structure, eventually destroying the sanctuary and much of the roof. Volunteer firefighters from Centreville and neighboring communities battled the blaze under difficult conditions, including freezing temperatures that caused water from their hoses to turn to ice.
Although the sanctuary was lost, firefighters managed to save the adjoining educational building and the church parsonage.
The destruction left the congregation without its customary place of worship, but not without the support of its neighbors.
Services were held temporarily at Centreville Presbyterian Church, and later the congregation was offered the use of the ground floor of the Masonic Building.
Plans to rebuild began almost immediately. Construction of the replacement sanctuary followed, and on May 26, 1968, Centreville Baptist Church dedicated the building that stands on Court House Square today.
The new sanctuary represented another milestone in a history that had already witnessed the congregation’s establishment, relocation and the loss of its landmark church to fire.
Now, more than a century after the move to Court House Square, workers are once again busy above the sanctuary, this time replacing a roof rather than rebuilding one destroyed by flames.
For those passing through downtown Centreville, the project may appear to be simply another construction job. But the building beneath that new roof represents generations of worship, fellowship, hardship and renewal in the life of the community.
The shingles are new. The magnificent history beneath them is not.
Historical sources: Baptists of Bibb County, 1817–1974, Howard F. McCord; Centreville Baptist Centennial Program, 1890–1990; Centreville Baptist 125th Anniversary Celebration Program, 2015; Centreville Baptist Church Dedication Program, May 26, 1968; and The Centreville Press archives.
