Christian experience began here with brush arbor, shore-side prayer meetings at Garner’s Hill on the banks of Carter Creek in the mid-1800s.  Gradually it grew into an alliance of Methodist, Presbyterian and Baptist believers, each holding adjudicatory membership elsewhere.  

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As time would have it, popularity gained and the meeting place was relocated into the Town proper as the Carter Creek Meeting House.  Soon after, the other two denominational outposts relocated:  the Presbyterians across the Creek, the Methodists across the road.  

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We were first a mission congregation of the Morattico Baptist Church, east of Kilmarnock. Our present sanctuary was dedicated January 8, 1891 as the Carter Creek Baptist Church.  In 1895, the Town was renamed Irvington and thus our Church was formally organized as Irvington Baptist Church.

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Our original building consisted of a one-room sanctuary.  During the 1920s the front portico was added to the Church.  In the 1930s stained glass windows were installed and a baptistry completed.  The balcony was also added for classroom space and worship attendance overflow.  In the 1940s we built a rear addition.

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Irvington went through the transition of being a Steamboat Wharf and seafood processing community to that of a Town crossroads, as motorcars replaced steamboats in the 1930s.  Most journeys required a ferry ride since there were no bridges.

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The aquaculture industry has faded; there are no working watermen in our Town today.  No matter, the area has grown and has become more populated with retirees.  

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Several major facility renovations were undertaken from the 1960’s through 1995. In the early 1990s, plans were drawn for our present Memorial Hall addition.  We broke ground on Sunday, August 14, 1994 and our new addition was dedicated on January 18, 1995.  We added a fellowship hall, an expanded kitchen, and additional restrooms for our social events and to serve as a community center when called upon by friends, neighbors and/or the Town.

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Lancaster County then established that we would be an official polling site for local, state and national voting, with public use of our Memorial Hall, kitchen and restrooms.

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In 2003, we were again short of facility space for the needs of both Church and community; and we undertook to add another wing consisting of a nursery, 4 restrooms, 8 more classrooms, a flower room, a multifunctional space, an office, and a playground.  Our facility is serviced by both ramp and elevator; thus, every entrance to our building is handicap-accessible.

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During the summer of 2012, we underwent an exhaustive survey of our utility consumption, whereupon we found that we were vastly out of phase with state-of-the-art heat and air conditioning and utility stewardship.  The necessary whole-building renovation resulted in insulating all areas, a major facelift, underpinning the balcony, repair of roof rafters, and replacement of several appliances to aide us in being better stewards of God’s gifts to us.

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We have had 14 pastors:  Frederick W. Claybrook; Harry Jeter Goodwin; Edmund LaFayette Hardcastle; Albert Edwards Estall; Joseph Hathaway Cosby; Reuben E. Alley; R. Clayton Pitts; John Leslie Hart; William W. Wright; Richard T. Bray, Jr.; William Owen Dillard, Jr.; Richard C. Newlon; Harvey Tildon Myers; and John Howard Farmer.

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We have licensed 5 persons into full-time Christian service:  Thomas Wade Croxton, Dr. George Oliver, Ellen Douglas Oliver, William Latane Lumpkin, and R. Lee Farmer.

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JHF, Pastor since 1986

(A full historical account may be found in the anthology:  A Century of Service: The Carter’s Creek Baptist Church, by John Howard Farmer, circa 1991.)