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The Miracle of Hickory Ridge Community Church
Hickory Ridge Community Church (formerly known as Community Baptist Church) held its very first service on January 5, 1997. On that very cold winter morning 23 people gathered at the Hickory Ruritan just a mile and a half north of where our church is now located. A group from Thomas Terrace Baptist Church in Concord, VA helped us launch our first service. Pastor Calvin & Sherry Corbitt moved from Thomas Terrace Church where Pastor Calvin had served in excess of 7 years as Associate Pastor to Reverend Mark Grooms.
The church originally began as in independent church, with no affiliation. The Liberty Baptist Fellowship and the Virginia Baptist Fellowship helped for the first few months as the church began its quest to reach Chesapeake, VA. and Moyock, NC. with the gospel.
By March of 1997, the church had approximately 40 individuals in attendance and we started supporting our very first missionary, Scott Carter.
On October 5, 1997, the church was chartered, and once again a group from Thomas Terrace came and prayed for and blessed us. Reverend Mark Grooms delivered our chartering message and 32 individuals signed as charter members; several who are still active members this very day-20 years later!!
In 1999, the church voted to join the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia. In the same year, the church also ordained Bruce Fail into the ministry and He became our first youth pastor. We also started to look for land for a building where we could call home. God was doing incredible things within the church and because God had blessed our mission, we were here to stay!
In April 2001, through a series of miracles and answered prayers, our small congregation was able to purchase 35 acres of land for our permanent home. In that same month, we added an additional morning service to accommodate our steady growth. It was truly miraculous that God allowed such a small congregation to have such a large piece of property. As a small group, we saw the Lord raise over $60,000 in 3 months for the down payment on the property. We also saw the Lord provide for us, 35 acres of prime land on Hickory Ridge for $205,000! That in itself was a huge miracle! Because of what the Lord did in providing our land, the church changed its name from “Community Baptist Church” to “Hickory Ridge Community Church”. With the land purchase, we began to raise money and plans for our new building. It was time of growth and excitement. On our fifth anniversary Oct 6, 2001 with over 200 people in attendance we held our services on the property and broke ground.
For nearly three years we struggled to get our building permits and final plans approved from the city. On February 8, 2004 with snow covering the ground, we once again broke ground. The financing was in place, the city approved our plans, and construction began.Due to us being a young church, we were unable to finance the entire project, and started construction knowing that we would have to raise $165,000 before construction was completed.
With a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and prayers we saw yet another great miracle from God. Our men and women sacrificed physically and took part in parts of the new construction in order to save money on labor costs, and the building.
On October 3, 2004, on our 7th Anniversary, we dedicated our new building to the Lord. In attendance was 430 individuals joined us for this great celebration. Reverend Jack Hackworth, from Cook Road Baptist Church located in Mansfield, OH preached for HRCC that day- what a time of celebration we had!
On October 7, 2007, we celebrated our 10th Anniversary with over 300 people in attendance. We enjoyed a cook out and a carnival on the grounds in thanks for what God had done for our growing congregation in those past 10 years.
Still yet we are growing and we are still receiving the blessed favor of God.
The church originally began as in independent church, with no affiliation. The Liberty Baptist Fellowship and the Virginia Baptist Fellowship helped for the first few months as the church began its quest to reach Chesapeake, VA. and Moyock, NC. with the gospel.
By March of 1997, the church had approximately 40 individuals in attendance and we started supporting our very first missionary, Scott Carter.
On October 5, 1997, the church was chartered, and once again a group from Thomas Terrace came and prayed for and blessed us. Reverend Mark Grooms delivered our chartering message and 32 individuals signed as charter members; several who are still active members this very day-20 years later!!
In 1999, the church voted to join the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia. In the same year, the church also ordained Bruce Fail into the ministry and He became our first youth pastor. We also started to look for land for a building where we could call home. God was doing incredible things within the church and because God had blessed our mission, we were here to stay!
In April 2001, through a series of miracles and answered prayers, our small congregation was able to purchase 35 acres of land for our permanent home. In that same month, we added an additional morning service to accommodate our steady growth. It was truly miraculous that God allowed such a small congregation to have such a large piece of property. As a small group, we saw the Lord raise over $60,000 in 3 months for the down payment on the property. We also saw the Lord provide for us, 35 acres of prime land on Hickory Ridge for $205,000! That in itself was a huge miracle! Because of what the Lord did in providing our land, the church changed its name from “Community Baptist Church” to “Hickory Ridge Community Church”. With the land purchase, we began to raise money and plans for our new building. It was time of growth and excitement. On our fifth anniversary Oct 6, 2001 with over 200 people in attendance we held our services on the property and broke ground.
For nearly three years we struggled to get our building permits and final plans approved from the city. On February 8, 2004 with snow covering the ground, we once again broke ground. The financing was in place, the city approved our plans, and construction began.Due to us being a young church, we were unable to finance the entire project, and started construction knowing that we would have to raise $165,000 before construction was completed.
With a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and prayers we saw yet another great miracle from God. Our men and women sacrificed physically and took part in parts of the new construction in order to save money on labor costs, and the building.
On October 3, 2004, on our 7th Anniversary, we dedicated our new building to the Lord. In attendance was 430 individuals joined us for this great celebration. Reverend Jack Hackworth, from Cook Road Baptist Church located in Mansfield, OH preached for HRCC that day- what a time of celebration we had!
On October 7, 2007, we celebrated our 10th Anniversary with over 300 people in attendance. We enjoyed a cook out and a carnival on the grounds in thanks for what God had done for our growing congregation in those past 10 years.
Still yet we are growing and we are still receiving the blessed favor of God.