Belview Baptist Church dates back to the years before the Civil War. On a Saturday in the spring of 1851, eleven people met at the home of William and Elizabeth Lawrence and organized a church. Two years later they built a one-room log cabin to worship in.
The church has moved more than once since then, from the log cabin, to the banks of Hurricane Creek, to the building we worship in today on Highway 9 and Knob Creek Road. Through it all, many pastors have brought the Word of God to everyone who would listen, and many people have found their Savior at Belview. For nearly a hundred years, new believers were baptized in nearby streams, mostly Hurricane Creek.
- May 31, 1851
The church is organized at the home of William and Elizabeth Lawrence, with eleven charter members, the Lawrences among them. The first pastor is a preacher named H.B. Clinton. William Lawrence becomes the first ordained deacon and the first church clerk.
- 1853
The congregation builds a one-room log cabin as its place of worship. It serves until 1876.
- 1877
The church moves to a location nearer to town.
- May 29, 1960
After 109 years, the congregation moves from its building on the banks of Hurricane Creek to a newly built church house a mile down the road. Rev. J.W. Rector, an Izard County native who founded a number of Baptist churches in Arizona, preaches the first sermon there.
- 1990–1991
The church keeps growing and needs more room and parking than the old site allows. The building is sold in August 1991, and that November a group of Baptist laymen known as the Nailbenders begins building the new church at Highway 9 and Knob Creek Road.
- April 12, 1992
Pastor Tim Porter preaches the first sermon in the new building.
- 1998
Rev. Tony Colburn becomes pastor on June 15.
- 1999
After a decade of new members and overflowing Sundays, the church votes to build a Family Life Center, with a larger auditorium and other improvements. Work begins in October.
- 2000
Belview begins the new century with 477 resident members and 155 non-resident members. The feeling of the church is one of optimism.
From "The History of Belview Baptist Church," written in November 1999. A fuller history from the church historian, with photos, is coming.
Belview Baptist Church