A Brief History of Rockland Baptist Church

Rockland Baptist Church was organized on November 25, 1868.  By the guidance of the Holy Spirit, three deacons, Jim Bugg, K. George Fite, and Jack Reid, purchased the property for the church on January 7, 1871, from the late Charlotte Brown, widow of the late Ruffin Brown.  The cost of the property was one hundred twenty-five dollars ($125.00) cash and was registered with the State of Tennessee on January 10, 1872, with W. H. Owens and Steve Lewis witnessing.

The first church service was held in a dwelling house.  In 1880, the building was erected and was used as a place of worship and a school.  This building fell down and a stone building was erected which split and soon collapsed.  In 1895, another building was completed but was partially destroyed by fire in 1914.  A division among the membership arose, yet a new and more modern building was constructed. In October 2009, we celebrated our inheritance of the promise God through faith and patience; we were blessed with our new Worship Center Rockland Missionary Baptist has been blessed immeasurably with strong support from our former pastors: Reverends A. O. Kenny, V. E. Shipp, Sam Bryant, Drew, Bateman, Tom Mills, Frank Harris, Albert Jones, O. C. McClain, Willie L. Scott, Floyd Prude, Jr., James K. L. Alexander, John A. Perry, and Lloyd S. Peoples.

In September of 1997, Pastor Leslie E. Stratton came to Rockland as our new leader.  He presented us with our vision statement.  “In this church we will utilize all of our time, talents, and tenths to provide Christ-centered ministries where people in this community can be redeemed to a personal relationship with Christ, reconciled to God and His people, restored to wholeness and well being, and revived for a full life of involved service to others.”  As the year of 1997 ended, Pastor Stratton presented our mission statement. “Through Christ-centered ministries, we desire to be distinguished as the Church with the undying concern for individuals.”