MT. OLIVE BAPTIST CHURCH

 

In 1883, Mt. Olive Baptist Church was organized with 9 men and 13 women as charter members.  During the same year, they were accepted into what was then known as the Burnt Swamp Missionary Baptist Association of the Mixed Races.  In 1885 the Sixth Annual Association meeting was held at Mt. Olive.  The association’s name had been changed to Burnt Swamp Baptist Association of the Croatan Indians.  A resolution was adopted during that meeting which changed the future of the Indians of Robeson County.  The people of Mt. Olive can take great pride in knowing that upon its grounds such a strategic decision was made.  The resolution reads as follows:

 

            On motion, the Association, and those of other denominations of the Croatan          Indians; have a committee of one from each church, who shall endeavor to raise            all the money they can for the purpose of establishing a high school among the            Croatan Indians; that this committee have a treasurer who shall hold this money     paid to him, and that each committee shall make a report at every Union meeting            of all the money they have raised.  On motion an invitation was extended to any             and all who will help us in this effort, and we will thank them kindly as we have        been destitute of education.

 

Walk back in time to about 1886 when only a one-room sanctuary existed at Mt. Olive.  One might, through imagination, smell the fumes from the three kerosene lanterns suspended from the sanctuary ceiling to provide light for worship.  These lanterns were replaced by electrical service in the early 1940's.

 

The first addition to the one-room sanctuary was a wing on each side, and when the needs of Mt. Olive outgrew the one-room sanctuary and the two sides, major renovation took place.  During the construction of several classrooms on the back, the church congregated at Piney Grove School for worship services.

 

In 1957, the Piney Grove Extension Homemakers Club furnished the sanctuary with a pulpit. A church bulletin was erected in front of the church in 1967.  In 1971 a fellowship hall was constructed and a year later the Young People's Class purchased a piano for that facility.  In the Fellowship Hall today are nameplates indicate families who purchased a table and six chairs to furnish the Hall.

 

In 1977, air conditioning and heating units replaced gas heaters and window fans; carpet, pew paddling adds to the comfort of pews.  It’s hard to imagine how, until 1957 when church members purchased 22 pews to replace the old ones how the congregation sat on slab-bottom pews.

 

In 1981, three additional classrooms were built on each side of existing classrooms.  Old rooms were refurbished with paneling and sheetrock.  Small nameplates exist today on the back of pews to identify the favorite sitting position of the person whose name you see engraved.  In 1998 a church baptistery was installed; an organ was purchased to compliment our piano recently.

 

Today the land tract of Mt. Olive is approximately 3.22 acres in size.  Daniel and Zena Locklear conveyed the first parcel received to the church on September 1, 1885.  In February, 1940, the K.M. Biggs firm for a cemetery gave an acre of land.  Later there was an exchange of land with the Biggs firm that resulted in additional land given to the church.  The Fellowship Hall erected in 1971 was on a part of this additional land.

 

The landscape is the work of many dedicated members and community supporters who worked together in clearing trees for increased parking facilities.  The Piney Grove Extension Homemakers donated beautiful shrubbery around the church.  The shrubbery that landscapes the fellowship hall was grown and donated by Mrs. Fearby Hunt. 

 

To oversee the business operations of our 176 members, Mt. Olive elects a five-member deacon board.  Conference, the business meeting of the church, is scheduled every two months and both brothers and sisters are involved in church decisions.  On Wednesday night, young and old convene to study the scripture through Bible study.  Communion is observed every fifth Sunday night with a candlelight ceremony.

 

The Adult Choir of Mt. Olive has been an integral part of worship for many years.  A branch-off of the choir is the Spiritual Singers, organized by Mrs. Patrice Locklear.  Our chorister, Ms. Tessie Hunt and pianist, Mrs. Patrice Lockear are what we call homegrown.  Ms. Hunt had led the choir for so many years she won’t tell and Mrs. Patrice who’s also the great granddaughter of Daniel and Zena Locklear, has been playing for the church since 1966.

 

Ministers who have been licentiates and/or ordained by Mt. Olive Baptist Church are as follows:  Rev. S.A. Hammonds on April 23, 1922 and Rev. Lloyd Mitchell Locklear on December 22, 1968.  The Rev. Hammonds, who departed this life in 1951 at the age of 77, served as pastor to the following Baptist Churches:  Deep Branch; Oak Grove; Piney Grove; Pleasant Grove; Reedy Branch; and First Baptist Church of Pembroke.

           

The first pastor of Mt. Olive was Rev. Furney A. Prevatte who helped in its organization.

The current pastor is Rev. Kelly Sanderson. 

 

Mr. Olive is the oldest established church in the Saddletree Community and shares the honor of being the fourth oldest in the Burnt Swamp Baptist Association.

Members are proud of the physical structure and the worship services of Mt. Olive because both are dedicated to God.

 

Church Deacons

Ambrose Locklear Sr.

Gus Revels

Loy Locklear

Worth Sampson

Stinson Revels

Luke Bell

Gus Revels

J. Bunyan Locklear

David Lowery Sr

Wilbur Locklear

Dock E. Locklear

Cecil B. Locklear

Joseph H. Locklear

Grover Locklear

Freddie Chavis