The Story Behind the Name
Nine Forks Baptist Church stands on Earls Bridge Road in the Dacusville community of Easley, South Carolina, a Southern Baptist congregation that has gathered believers in the same rural stretch of Pickens County since 1885. From a single frame building warmed by a pot-bellied stove to today's campus with a sanctuary, a Family Life Center, a Youth and Children's Building, and a cemetery just behind the sign, the church has remained a steady presence across more than fourteen decades of change in the upstate.
Before the church was a building, the place was known by its geography. Oral tradition among the senior citizens of the Dacusville community says the surrounding area took the name Nine Forks because nine roads converged near the site, some of them no wider than driveways. Residents who wanted to worship had to travel by buggy, horse and wagon, horseback, or on foot to Cross Roads or Peters Creek Churches, on roads that were frequently muddy and hard to pass. In 1885, a number of Christian people decided that, in order to better serve the Master and to further His kingdom, a church was needed at this place.
On May 1, 1885, these neighbors came together to organize a church, calling it Nine Forks. The council included ordained ministers from surrounding congregations: Rev. D.C. Freeman of Cross Roads, Rev. J.M. Stuart of Mountain Grove, Rev. Geo. W. Singleton of Easley, Rev. J.T. Singleton of Marietta, and Rev. Thomas Looper of Peters Creek, along with deacons and lay members from Cross Roads, Peters Creek, Ebenezer, Oolenoy, Marietta, and Forestville. Rev. Freeman preached the organization sermon and was called as the church's first pastor. J. Tyre Looper and J.P. Robinson were elected the first deacons.
Twenty-three names appear on the charter roll: G.W. Griffin, S.S. Hillard, Alva Griffin, J. Tyre Looper, Micail Hunt, W.E. Hunt, J.H. Hunt, J.P. Robinson, Thomas Williams, A.J. Hunt, Daniel Looper, and Joseph Hester, together with the wives, sisters, and daughters who joined them. By 1935, only five of those charter members were still living, and four were still members of Nine Forks. The first worship services may have been held in a brush arbor, and the first permanent building was a one-room frame structure set in what is now the northeastern corner of the cemetery, just behind the church sign. A large pot-bellied stove heated it, and in cold weather, the back pews stayed empty.
From Brush Arbor to Family Life Center
Across its first seventy-five years, Nine Forks was served by nineteen different men called as pastor, beginning with Rev. D.C. Freeman and ending with Rev. Ralph W. McKinney in 1961. Members built the original frame building in 1929 with their own labor; the debt was finally paid off in December 1934, just as the Great Depression made the first promised payments come due. In 1936, members gave timber that was hauled to Pickens, cut into pews, and returned to the church; the same free labor built two Sunday School rooms across the back of the building and finished the upstairs rooms. The pastor's annual salary in those years moved from $230 in 1936 to $3,380 by 1961, an increase that ran alongside an 81 percent rise in membership.
The most significant building project of those decades came during the pastorate of Rev. Norman S. Bell. In the summer of 1960, plans were drawn up to completely remodel the old church and add much-needed Sunday School space. The contract was let in October, construction began in December, and on Easter Sunday 1961, the congregation held its first worship service in the renovated building. The project added two rest rooms just inside the front door, a modern nursery, six Sunday School rooms, a baptistry, and a steeple. That Easter sunrise service was a community gathering, with Dacusville Methodist, Peters Creek Baptist, and Jones Hill Church of God joining in.
In the late 1960s and 1970s, the church grew into its Southern Baptist identity. A Conn organ was purchased in 1968; a steeple painting and a kitchen downstairs came in the mid-1960s; new Sunday School rooms, a south wing, and a heating system came in 1958 and 1959. By 1973, the church had approved plans for a new two-story wing and full air conditioning, the building that still stands adjacent to the sanctuary. The Pickens Association merged with the Twelve Mile River Association in 1970 to form the Pickens-Twelve Mile Baptist Association, and Nine Forks has remained a member of that body ever since.
The Together We Build campaign of 1984-85, a stewardship effort developed by the Southern Baptist Convention's Stewardship Commission, set out to raise $300,000 for a Family Life Center. A 90-day effort to raise $20,000 in cash was exceeded, a banquet at Dacusville School drew pledges of over $140,000 in advance commitments, and the total committed reached $202,520. On May 5, 1985, the 100th anniversary of the church, ground was broken for the new building. The Family Life Center was dedicated on May 1, 1986, at a cost of $225,000.
Less than four years later, on the evening of April 10, 1990, a tornado destroyed most of the new Family Life Center. No one was inside, but meetings and sporting events had been held there most nights of the week. Sherman Construction began immediately replacing the building at a cost of $313,325, mostly covered by insurance, with $7,000 in additional sanctuary repairs and new parking. The mortgage on the rebuilt center was burned on April 28, 1996, in a celebration that brought former pastors back to Dacusville. A new Allen organ was added in 1997, a Boston grand piano in 2000, and sanctuary improvements in 2007 added new lights, carpet, pew padding, a refinished stage, chandeliers, and a screen.
In 2011, the church launched The Defining Moment - A Legacy of Faith Continued, a campaign that funded a brand-new Youth and Children's Building. Trehel Construction broke ground in November 2011, and the building opened on May 6, 2012. Members built the unfinished back portion themselves in 2013, with Tommy Bashor handcrafting the cabinets throughout. The mortgage was burned on July 8, 2018; the building had cost $528,287, of which $393,287 had been financed. A playground was added adjacent to the new building, the parking lot was repaved with new curbs and sidewalks in 2020, and security cameras were installed across the property in 2022.
Through these decades the church navigated a long season of pastoral transitions. Rev. Felton Cox served from March 1, 1979 to September 30, 1990; Rev. Gary Ward from November 1991 to July 19, 1998; Rev. Randy Blank from June 6, 1999 to March 9, 2003; Rev. Jack Hester from May 25, 2003 until late 2010; Rev. Jeff Wright from October 10, 2011 to November 2013; and Rev. Stephen Owens from July 6, 2014 to the present. Each transition brought interim pastors, including Rev. Robert Wheeler, Rev. Rick Fisher, and Dr. Marion Hare.
What Nine Forks Believes
The church's stated beliefs begin with the Bible. Nine Forks believes the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments to be the complete Word of God, inspired by the Spirit of God as originally written, and the final authority in all matters of faith and conduct.
God is confessed as one God, Creator of all, holy, sovereign, and eternal, existing in three equal Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is confessed in His absolute and essential deity, His eternal existence with the Father in pre-incarnate glory, His work of creation, His virgin birth, His sinless life, His substitutionary death, His bodily resurrection, His triumphant ascension, His mediatorial ministry, and His personal return.
The Holy Spirit is likewise confessed as absolutely and essentially deity, and as a Person. He convinces of sin, righteousness, and judgment; He regenerates, indwells, seals, sanctifies, illuminates, and comforts those who believe in Jesus Christ; He baptizes believers at conversion into the Body of Christ and bestows upon them His gifts sovereignly as He wills; and He fills those yielded to Him.
Mankind is understood as Adam was divinely created in the image of God; by his sin of disobedience Adam fell, and all his posterity inherited spiritual depravity and defilement. All human beings are guilty before God and condemned to physical and spiritual death. Salvation is by the sovereign grace of God: the Father sent Christ, who voluntarily suffered a propitiatory death; justification is by faith alone in the all-sufficient sacrifice and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ; and those whom God has effectually called shall be divinely preserved and ultimately perfected in the image of the Lord.
Sunday Mornings at the Sanctuary
Worship at Nine Forks follows a steady weekly rhythm. Sunday School begins at 9:30 AM, followed by the Morning Worship Service at 10:30 AM in the Sanctuary. The Praise Team leads the music alongside the church's pianist and organist, and the morning service is recorded live each week on Facebook, where viewers can join from anywhere. An Evening Worship Service gathers at 6:00 PM.
Students meet on Sunday evenings at 6:00 PM in the Youth Worship Room for H.U.B. activities, with food, fun, and music followed by a Bible study. The current student study is a series on Bible Prophecy, drawn verse by verse from the Word. Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ, the church teaches from Romans 10:17.
Rev. Felton Cox captured the spirit well when he wrote in 1985: It is great to be involved in this kind of cooperative ministry. It is great to be a cooperative Southern Baptist Church, and to know that there is at its disposal the resources of the Pickens Twelve Mile Baptist Association, the South Carolina Baptist Convention, and the Southern Baptist Convention. The welcome still extends to anyone who walks in today: Nine Forks Baptist Church is a body of believers made up of people from different backgrounds and stories joined together because of the gospel of Christ.
Wednesdays: Prayer at 10:30 and Students at 6:30
Wednesday at Nine Forks begins with prayer. A Wednesday Morning Prayer Service meets at 10:30 AM, one of the longest-running prayer rhythms of the church. Wednesday evening at 6:30 PM is set aside for students, who gather for a year-long study; the recent series has walked through the lives of Kids of the Bible, giving young people a year of consecutive biblical teaching.
Beyond the prayer service and student night, Wednesdays are a touchpoint for the wider congregation as well. Wednesday morning Bible Study resumed in September 2020 alongside the Prayer Service, and the Wednesday evening hour remains an open door for anyone wanting to gather around Scripture during the week.
Music from Martha Wood's Piano to the Praise Team
Music has been a thread through Nine Forks for more than half a century. Martha Wood started playing piano at Nine Forks at the age of 11 and continued until the church purchased an organ. She has been the organist for over forty years, and her stated objective as a church musician is to honor God with the talent she has been given and to enhance the worship experience for all. Rebecca Looper has been the pianist for over thirty-five years. Her goal as a musician is to always present her music as an offering of worship to God and to help lead others in worshiping and praising Him.
The Praise Team, led by Denise Owens, brings a contemporary voice to the Sunday morning service. Will Landers, Angie Dickard, Emily Duncan, Tim Robinson, and Denise Owens are the dedicated musicians who lead the congregation in praise. Emily Duncan began duties as Minister of Music on July 10, 2022, after Danny Smith announced his retirement in January of that year and preached his last service on February 28, 2022.
Earlier chapters of the music program are also remembered. Harold Felmet was called as Minister of Music on October 13, 1985. Henry Freeman served from July 1980 through August 1985. Larry Ross served from February 21, 1993 to July 24, 1994. Dean Eades was called on October 22, 1995, and resigned on June 23, 2002; he and his wife Brenda led the choir through the dedication of the Boston grand piano in 2000. Danny Smith returned as Minister of Music on April 3, 2016, after a first tenure that began on August 11, 2002, and his wife Chris supported him across both seasons. The adult choir continues to present major works, including a 1985 Christmas musical titled The Greatest Story Ever Told and the 2005 production Majesty, a music and drama depicting Jesus' death and resurrection, directed by Danny Smith with approximately forty members involved.
Children's Ministry and the Youth of Dacusville
Children's ministry at Nine Forks centers on Sunday School and a deep love for getting kids into the Word. Denise Owens joined the staff in 2016 as part-time children's minister, after years of experience in children's, college and career, and women's ministries. She holds a B.A. in elementary education and teaches at Dacusville Elementary, and her passion is helping children meet Jesus and grow in God's Word. She also serves as the church's youth minister.
Will Landers teaches children's Sunday School and the Royal Ambassadors on Wednesday nights and is among the deacons who shape the next generation of the congregation. His wife Jill Landers grew up at Nine Forks and joined at an early age; she now teaches Sunday School and works with the children's ministry.
Earlier generations of children's workers are remembered in the church's history. In December 2007, Melvin and Tammy Worsham were hired as Children's Directors. Jamie and Melissa Walden served as Youth Directors beginning January 6, 2008. Robbie King was hired on April 29, 2001, and resigned in 2003. Randy Brown was hired as Youth Director on June 14, 2015, and served as Caretaker before passing the role to Will Landers on May 8, 2022.
Vacation Bible School has been a fixture since at least 1936, when 161 members gathered under a total Sunday School enrollment of 115. Enrollment in VBS has remained strong across the decades. Six GA's attended Camp LaVida and eleven RA's attended Camp McCall in the most recent year recorded, thanks to congregational giving.
WMU: The Quilting Women of 1930
The Women's Missionary Union at Nine Forks is one of the oldest continuous ministries of the church. Around 1930, the women of the church, then called the Woman's Missionary Society, met on Thursday afternoons. When a call came about the need for bed covers for missionaries in cold countries, the ladies began quilting after their twice-monthly meetings. They were joined by two ladies from the Church of God, Mrs. Ida Finley and Mrs. Frank Rich, and a Methodist lady, Mrs. Traynham. Several quilts were quilted for the missionaries.
While the ladies quilted, the small children were left to play around. Under a quilt was a wonderful place to play, but it caused many stuck fingers and a need for children to be kept busy; thus, Sunbeams was originated for the church. Mrs. Eunice Robinson as leader met with the children every time the ladies met. Stories, songs, pictures of missionaries. Missions came alive for us. We studied China and Japan and imagined ourselves as Chinese and Japanese.
The WMU organizations have remained active throughout the years. The WMU women meet at 10:30 AM the first Tuesday of each month. Today the women continue that legacy: contributing to the Annie Armstrong Offering for North American Missions, the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions, and the Janie Chapman Offering for State Missions. They have made jump ropes for Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes, provided snacks to Dacusville Middle School faculty for teacher appreciation, collected $796 to purchase pillows and other supplies for Miracle Hill Children's Home, and sent a generous pounding of food and supplies for the LifeHouse family.
Disaster Relief from Conway to Kentucky
Members of Nine Forks have been active in disaster relief since 2011. October and November of 2018 took them to Conway, South Carolina, on several trips after Hurricane Florence. They worked in Panama City, Florida, in January 2019, and then in Pickens, South Carolina, after a massive flood in February of 2020. Tornado damage took them to Seneca, South Carolina, in April 2020 and to Kentucky in March 2021 after flooding. These are only a few of the southwest and eastern areas of the United States where the team has assisted.
Disaster relief is one expression of a much broader missions commitment. United Christian Ministries receives a monthly food collection from the church; the congregation gave $9,807 to Feed a Hungry Child in Dacusville, and members filled 54 Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. Twelve volunteers traveled to Charlotte to help at the Samaritan's Purse Distribution Center, where they inspect boxes for shipping overseas. The church gave $2,707 to the Annie Armstrong Offering for North American Missions, $2,275 to the Janie Chapman Offering for State Missions, and $2,589 to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions. All used Sunday School literature is collected and distributed internationally to churches that have no literature.
The church also partners locally. Thirty-five backpacks were filled with school supplies and distributed to Dacusville Elementary and Dacusville Middle Schools. A ramp and porch were built for church members with disabilities. For many years the church has helped support a Habitat for Humanity house in the area, joined other Dacusville-area churches in a Habitat project in 1993, and partnered with the Dacusville Ministerial Association in support of that work.
Each December brings the churchwide effort to support Samaritan's Purse through Operation Christmas Child. A group helps pack boxes in Charlotte, North Carolina, a yearly tradition that has continued for many years.
Sports Camp, Farm Days, and the Bean Hut at Robinson Field
Summer brings Sports Camp, organized and led by Nine Forks at the Dacusville Recreation fields each June in conjunction with other area churches. Sports Camp began in June 2016 and continued each summer through 2019; it resumed in June 2021 after a year off due to the pandemic.
Farm Days Service is one of the older traditions of the church, observed on a Sunday in late summer. Around 1986, members moved Doris Scruggs' father's fishing cabin to Robinson Field for the Farm Days Pinto Bean Hut. The church used this building for ten to twelve years each Labor Day weekend to raise money for the youth. Eventually, the old bean hut was demolished and members built a new one with a sink and modern conveniences. Each year, members continue to donate their beans, baked goods, picnic tables, canopies, and time to this traditional effort, and Pioneer Church Day, observed on each Farm Days Sunday, remains a fixture. The senior adults also gather regularly for trips to the mountains, the beach, the Cove in North Carolina, plays, Valentine Banquets, special speakers, church dinners, and out-to-eat ventures.
The People Who Serve
Rev. Stephen Owens began serving as Senior Pastor of Nine Forks on July 6, 2014. He has been in ministry for over twenty-two years, has served in various staff positions, and has served as Senior Pastor to three other congregations. He is married to Denise Owens, and they have three children: Caleb, Kaylee, and Riley. A philosophy of ministry that has helped guide him is simply to help people find and follow Jesus.
Denise Owens serves as Minister of Music and Children and Youth Minister. She leads the Praise Team and musicians. Emily Duncan began duties as Minister of Music on July 10, 2022. Martha Wood, who started playing piano at Nine Forks at the age of 11 and became the organist when the church purchased its first organ, has been the organist for over forty years. Rebecca Looper has been the pianist for over thirty-five years. Will Landers, a member of Nine Forks for over twenty years, is a deacon, teaches children's Sunday School and Royal Ambassadors on Wednesday nights, and serves as the church's caretaker.
To contact the church, call 864-836-8484 or write to 9forks@gmail.com. The church is located at 3207 Earls Bridge Road, Easley, South Carolina 29640, with a mailing address of P.O. Box 185, Pickens, South Carolina 29671. Sunday morning services are broadcast live on Facebook at 10:30 AM each week, and recordings of past sermons by Rev. Owens, including the Advent series Behold the Lamb Prepared, Behold the Lamb Provided, and Behold the Lamb Presented, are available there. Online giving is available through the Tithe.ly app; the church is listed under Nine Forks Baptist Church in the green app in the App Store.