In the year of our Lord, 1874, thirteen members from the Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church assembled to begin a church in the Cruso community. Those thirteen people decided to call this new church East Fork Baptist Church. They met in a one-room log schoolhouse on hand hewn split-log benches. The small group struggled to stay together, but with the help of God they started to grow. They drew up a Covenant, Articles of Faith, and Rules of Order, and called the Rev. J.V. Reece as the first pastor. By 1895, the members of the church decided that a true home for the church was necessary. A white plank church often referred to as "the white church up at Shut-In Ridge" was then built.
As the church grew in membership, so did hard times, and it was difficult to pay expenses. Most pastors accepted a free will offering instead of a salary. During the depression, members grew an acre of beans and potatoes. These were then sold and the proceeds were given to the Cooperative Program. This was known as the "Lord's Acre Program". There again, with cooperation, dedication, and a great faith in God, the church grew. East Fork survived the depression, while other churches couldn't pay their expenses and were forced to close their doors.
It was 1915, before the church began to have a yearly budget. The 1920s, were truly roaring at East Fork. During this decade, a bell was purchased for the church at the cost of sixty dollars. A Sunday school program was also began in the twenties. The church has never been without the Sunday school program since.
In the 1930s, a Baptist Young People's Union was organized. They used 2 Timothy 2:15 "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth," as their motto.
The simple plank church lasted until 1942, when in the spring of the year the church membership voted to begin building a new building to house the growing body of members, since they had been filling the church to its small capacity. A birthday box was placed in front of the church. Each person who had a birthday put a penny in for each year they had lived. It was voted to start building when fifty dollars had been collected. A building of native river rock was built during the middle 1940s, to replace the small plank church. The first factory made pews were installed in the rock church, and could seat approximately two hundred.
During the 1950s, the church began holding Vacation Bible School with many children, and has grown each year since. The church also experienced rapid growth all over during the fifties. By the latter 1950s, the church had once again outgrown its home. The membership set apart a committee of five men to go out and search the community for a suitable plot of land to build a new building.
Just down the road from the rock church, the congregation settled on a small plot of land across from the Cruso School. By 1962 the church had purchased this land and had broken ground on the new building. A brick building that seats 250 in the sanctuary was then built and in 1964 the first services were held there. The church expanded the building, by adding on a fellowship hall in the 1970s. The church also built a parsonage in the seventies, and the Rev. Ricky Mason was the first pastor of East Fork to live in the parsonage.
In the years since 1874 we have prospered and grown. Pastors and members have come and gone. Babies have been born and members have died. Our core congregation has always remained strong. The Lord has truly blessed East Fork Baptist Church from its original thirteen members to its over 550 today. So, today and always may our prayer be that this body of God’s people stays together in love to do God's will.
© 2007. Levi Henson, East Fork Baptist Church
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