A Church with Roots in the Providence Settlement
Greater Pleasant Branch Baptist Church sits on Spruce Street in Conway, Arkansas, not far from the University of Central Arkansas campus. The congregation traces its story back to 1880, when fifteen African American families, most of them freedmen and former slaves who had moved to Arkansas from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee, organized a church in the Providence settlement near present-day Mayflower. During Faulkner County's centennial celebration in 1973, the church was identified as the oldest African American congregation in the county. Its earliest members were primarily farmers who worked the Littles' Farm Plantation, and its first house of worship was a one-room, rectangular building of vertical planking surrounded by a fence with two gates, one for wagons and one for the congregation.
The Rev. Lawrence Cornelius organized and pastored the first congregation, followed over the next three decades by a long line of ministers: Sim Ladell, Tom Chism, Pete Watkins, Louis Watts, West Turner, W. M. Drew, Lee Fowler, B. H. Haynes, and L. F. Fears. In 1927, during the great Mississippi River flood, the church's little building became a place of refuge for people who had been displaced. A few years later, on a Wednesday night in 1930, the building was completely destroyed by fire after a prayer meeting. The blaze was suspected to be arson, though no evidence was ever confirmed. The members rebuilt their fellowship by sharing a Rosenwald School building with a Church of God In Christ congregation, alternating Sundays between the two groups. Sunday worship in those years followed a familiar pattern: Sunday School at 9:30 a.m., Morning Worship at 11:00 a.m., Baptist Training Union at 6:00 p.m., and a long evening service that ran from 7:00 to 9:00. There was no formal order of worship and no formal choir; the congregation sang from the Gospel Pearl hymnbook, led by a song leader, with quartets popular in revivals.
From the Farm to Conway: The Raynor Years
By 1950, the dismantling of the Littles' Farm and the sudden death of Rev. Brazell Williams, the last pastor in the original location, left the small group without a building and without a minister. A handful of members migrated into Conway, determined to keep their identity as a distinct congregation. In 1951, eleven charter members, including Deacon Climey and Ruth Mathis, Deacon Robert Tilman, Deacon C. J. and Ada Frazier, Geneva Veasley, Elvira Veasley, Rosie Hoskins, Susie Herron, and Dezzie Williams, began meeting on the second and fourth Sundays at Little Bethel A.M.E. Church on Harrison Street. The new fellowship affiliated with the Golden Rule District Missionary Baptist Association, where it remains a member today.
In February 1955, a young minister named Jerome R. Raynor preached a sermon titled "Count Your Blessings" at a district meeting hosted at Little Bethel. The congregation remembered the title and soon invited him to be their pastor. He accepted, and within weeks he and two members walked into a local insurance office and secured a loan to purchase a one-room, tin-topped building. It was moved onto property at 1425 Ingram Street and became the first permanent house of worship the branch had known in twenty-five years.
Rev. Raynor would pastor the church for fifty-seven years, the longest tenure of any minister associated with Pleasant Branch. Under his leadership, the little building on Ingram Street was underpinned, bricked, expanded with a kitchen, classrooms, a pastor's study, a baptistery, and an extended sanctuary, and the first mortgage was burned. Ministries multiplied: a formal choir, Sunday School, the Baptist Training Union, Women's Mission, the Ushers, and a Bible Band took root, and a brotherhood of young adult men organized in 1974 reached out into the surrounding community and to students at the University of Central Arkansas. Rev. Raynor repeatedly told the congregation, "God is going to send people from the north, the south, the east, and the west. This place is going to be the highway of civilization one day."
By the early 1980s, the building on Ingram Street was full. On April 2, 1989, the congregation broke ground on a new sanctuary on the former Pine Street Elementary School site, purchased from the Conway School District. The members voted to rename themselves Greater Pleasant Branch Baptist Church to mark the new beginning. Members painted and completed interior work themselves so that the church could march from its old sanctuary at 1425 Ingram to its new home on Sunday, November 12, 1989, celebrating its completion and the thirty-fourth pastoral anniversary of Rev. Raynor. The new sanctuary was dedicated on March 11, 1990, with the J. R. Raynor Sanctuary Choir providing music. The site also included the former Pine Street Elementary School building and a gymnasium, which were renovated for both church and community use. Rev. Raynor continued to serve until his death on January 18, 2012, after fifty-seven years of ministry alongside his wife, Cleo Raynor, who had served as a model, encourager, and mentor to the congregation for more than fifty years.
Pastor Artee Williams and the Branch Today
Rev. Artee Williams was appointed pulpit coordinator in 2011 as Rev. Raynor's health declined, and he was elected the second senior pastor of Greater Pleasant Branch on July 21, 2013. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Philander Smith College, a Master's in Divinity, and a Doctorate in Ministry with a specialization in expository preaching and teaching. He has completed executive leadership training at Duke University and pursued coursework toward an MBA at Arkansas State University. He and his wife Glenda, whom he calls his "Angel," have two daughters, six grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.
Pastor Williams often repeats two guiding phrases: "Be the difference that makes a difference" and "Leaders find a way." Eight associate ministers assist him: Andrew Balenton, Ben Chandler, Jerry Doss, Raymond Duggar, Chris Hervey, Ricky McFadden, John Smith, Michael Stith, and Mark White. Under Pastor Williams's leadership the church has continued to grow spiritually, numerically, and administratively, with sound biblical preaching and teaching and the addition and strengthening of ministries. His challenge to the congregation is to "be the difference that makes the difference by expecting the extraordinary."
What Greater Pleasant Branch Believes
Greater Pleasant Branch holds to a classic evangelical and Baptist understanding of the Christian faith. The church teaches that the Bible, the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, is the inspired and truthful word of God and the final authority for Christian faith and practice. There is one true God who exists eternally as three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, fully God and one in essence and purpose. Jesus Christ is God's eternal Son, fully God and fully man, born of a virgin, who lived a sinless life, died as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of all mankind, rose bodily from the dead, and ascended into heaven. Mankind was created in God's image but fell into sin through the temptation of Satan, leaving every person in need of salvation through personal repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit convicts, indwells, teaches, gifts, and empowers believers for ministry.
The church teaches that the Church is the living Body of Christ on earth, made up of all true believers, existing to glorify God through worship, growth in Christ, biblical community, and the communication of the gospel in word and action. Greater Pleasant Branch looks for the physical return of Jesus Christ, who will judge the world, reward the saints, and establish His eternal kingdom.
A Week at the Branch
The church's weekly rhythm centers on Sunday morning and Wednesday evening. Sunday School meets at 9:00 a.m. each week, in person and through a recurring Zoom meeting, and is led by Superintendent Roosevelt H. Sanders and Assistant Superintendent Frank Haynes. Morning Worship follows at 10:15 a.m. in the sanctuary, with services also live on the church's YouTube channel. Communion is observed on the first Sunday of each month. Wednesday evening Bible Study meets at 6:15 p.m. in the sanctuary and online, with the current study walking through the book of Colossians under the theme "Complete in Christ." All online services use the same Zoom link.
The Ministry of Music and Fine Arts
Music is at the heart of the church's worship life. The Ministry of Music and Fine Arts, led by Deacon Lloyd Hervey as Minister of Music and James "Joe" Hogan as President, oversees a comprehensive program of choirs, instrumental ensembles, dance, drama, and visual arts. Its mission is "reaching people with messages from God through the Ministry of Music and Fine Arts," and its motto is drawn from 2 Peter 3:18: "But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever. Amen."
The J. R. Raynor Sanctuary Choir ministers each Sunday morning, helping worshipers focus on praise and thanksgiving and preparing hearts for the preached Word. The Cleo Raynor Children's Choir, directed by Jessie B. Cain and assisted by Jaylin Ealy, includes the Cherubs (ages four to eight) and the Crusaders (ages nine to twelve), and presents music during the academic school year and seasonal programs. The Liturgical Dance Ministry, the Sisters of Faith under Charnesha Brown, is organized into three groups: Little Sisters of Faith (ages four to twelve), Sisters of Faith (ages thirteen to eighteen), and Women of Faith (ages nineteen and up). The Drama Ministry, Praise Dimension under Gladys Harris, trains members in improvisation, monologue writing, dialect, voice, and staging. The Instrumental Music and Training Ministry develops vocal sight-singing and recruits and trains the Chimes Choir. The Visual Arts Ministry, led by Anetia Delph, invites members and neighbors to express their gifts in drawing, painting, and other media.
Feeding Faulkner County
The Greater Pleasant Branch Food Pantry, directed by Angela McGee, is one of the most active outreach ministries in the church. The pantry operates a client-choice self-select distribution on Tuesday evenings from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m., where participants choose from deli items, fresh produce, breads, desserts, and milk, much of it picked up the day before from the local Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market. On the first Saturday of each month, from 8:00 to 11:00 a.m., the pantry runs a drive-through distribution of pre-made boxes stocked from the Arkansas Foodbank Network in Little Rock, with cereals, canned goods, rice, beans, pasta, tuna, pancake mix, and frozen items.
The pantry also provides thirty-five meals a week to the homeless in coordination with the Homeless Hub at The Ministry in Conway, makes limited home deliveries to elderly, sick, and shut-in members, and serves Christmas boxes each December with turkey, chicken, or ham along with the usual staples. The food pantry is grounded in Matthew 25:35-36: "For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me."
Marriage, Brotherhood, Sisterhood, and Singles
Greater Pleasant Branch invests heavily in the families and adults of the congregation. The Marriage Ministry, chaired by Melody Sargent with Bruce Sargent as Assistant Chair, holds workshops on communication, submission, conflict resolution, family finance, and retirement, plus date nights, the annual "I Still Do" Valentine's banquet, "Weekend to Remember" retreats, support groups, and book studies. The Men's Ministry, the Brotherhood, is led by Deacon Carl Harris as President, with Deacon Larry Lanes as Vice-President and Deacon Reginald Campbell as Secretary. It reaches young men, supports young married couples, and organizes an annual Fishing Derby each May. The Women's Ministry, the Sisterhood, is led by Jamisa Hogan as President and Leona Walton as Vice-President, and has issued the "50 Things Challenge" to its members. The Singles Ministry, chaired by Jabbar Shepherd, plans fellowship trips and outings for unmarried adults. The Student Ministry, under the motto "LEARN ... LOVE ... LEAD," works to cultivate young people into leaders today, not just tomorrow, with the mission of intentionally teaching students to discover God and develop their gifts.
The Deacon Family Ministry Plan
The Deacons Ministry at Greater Pleasant Branch follows a structured plan in which every family in the church is assigned to a particular deacon. The current chair is Larry Lanes, with Reginald Campbell as Secretary. Other deacons include Carl Harris, Frank Haynes, Lloyd Hervey, Frank Holbrook, and Darryl McGee. The assigned deacon makes an initial get-acquainted visit, returns during hospital stays, illness, or grief, witnesses to unsaved family members, shares in family celebrations, gives support in crisis, helps members find ways to serve, and prays regularly for the family. In the Deacon Family Ministry Plan, every member and every family has a deacon, in an effort to make the church a real family in Christ.
Discipleship, Bible Study, and the Six Steps of Meditation
The church offers a structured path for spiritual growth that it calls Connect, Learn, and Grow. The Connect ministry introduces newcomers to the forgiveness available through Jesus, to the body of believers, and to a caring fellowship. The Learn ministry centers on six leadership training modules, Be All In, Embody Self-Leadership, Live Faithfully, Cultivate Healthy Hearts, Passionately Pursue Community, and Be Driven by God's Spirit, and on the Six Steps of Scripture Meditation drawn from Donald S. Whitney's "Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life." The six steps are Reading, Review, Rewrite, Recap, Relationship, and Reflection, guiding the reader from a first encounter with a passage to prayer, memorization, and application.
The Grow ministry focuses on deepening prayer, love for God and neighbor, worship, spiritual wisdom, faith, and the confidence to evangelize. The Christian Board of Education, chaired by Vernetta Sanders with Deacon Carl Harris as Vice-Chairperson, oversees the entire educational program of the church, and the church administers the T.M. Logan Memorial Scholarship for graduating high school seniors and the Fay Dunevant Memorial Scholarship.
The Plan of Salvation
Greater Pleasant Branch lays out the gospel in four movements drawn directly from Romans. All have sinned, and "there is none righteous, no, not one" (Romans 3:10, 23). The payment for sin is death (Romans 6:23). But God demonstrated his love: "while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13). Anyone wishing to follow up on a decision can fill out the prayer form, and a deacon or minister will reach out.
Visiting Greater Pleasant Branch
The church is located at 601 Spruce Street in Conway, Arkansas, with Sunday School at 9:00 a.m. and Morning Worship at 10:15 a.m. Both are streamed on YouTube and accessible by Zoom. Wednesday Bible Study meets at 6:15 p.m. in person and online. The office can be reached at 501-327-2164 or at 601branch@gmail.com. Tithes and offerings can be given online through the church's giving platform, or mailed to P.O. Box 1402, Conway, AR 72033. The church maintains an active presence on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.
Greater Pleasant Branch Baptist Church has described itself with a single line from John 15:5: "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." Since 1880 the people called Pleasant Branch have been putting down roots and bearing fruit in central Arkansas.