By Jean Gordon
When Chimney Rock Baptist Church (CRBC) observed its 100th birthday on Sunday, August 30, church family, former members, friends and others gathered to celebrate the past and present while looking toward the future. No doubt some friendships were renewed and stories were shared of long ago.
Rev. Alex Heafner came to Chimney Rock Baptist Church, located off Boys Camp Road, on May 1, 2018, as its pastor and led the 100th anniversary worship service.
The church in the area before CRBC was the Whiteside Valley Baptist Church in 1892. Rev. Z.T. Whiteside served as the first pastor and according to records, conducted worship services in a log home on his property. He served as pastor six years and during the final months of his pastorate, a new frame church structure was completed.
The church thrived and in 1925 when plans were announced to build the Lake Lure dam, the lake would take the property of Whiteside Valley Baptist Church. History records the property, including the cemetery, was sold to Carolina Mountain Power Company. The new church building was erected through proceeds from the sale of the former Whiteside property. On August 29,1926 — 100 years ago — the new Chimney Rock Baptist Church was consecrated. Rev. E.P. White was the pastor.
When Covid shut down the world and church, an outdoor platform was built, and an AM transmitter was used at CRBC. The church met in the parking lot of the church during COVID and conducted worship services until 2021.
“People sat in their vehicles and listened to their radios,” said Heafner.
When Hurricane Helene happened in September 2024, there was two feet of rain in the area, Rev. Heafner recalled. There were no utilities for at least five weeks, but the pastor said, “We stayed and helped each other.”
“During this time, we met people in the community we did not know previously, and we all worked together to care for one another,” he said.
The rushing water came to the tree line on Church Street and the Lakeside Chapel was flooded. “We lost everything, but the plastic yard chairs,” he said of the area where 9 am worship services are held each Sunday during the summer months and into the fall.
CRBC became a small collection and distribution center for supplies of all types: food items, water, paper products, batteries, gasoline, generators and other items, during the days of Hurricane Helene. Needed supplies were sent to nearby churches, as well as other communities like Swannanoa, Burnsville, and others impacted by the storm.
During those days, Rev. Heafner said the church received a lot of support from individuals in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. A helicopter from Tennessee landed in the church cemetery loaded with small generators and other much needed supplies for the community.
Rev. Heafner said the church began a Give-Send-Go to help meet the financial needs of individuals and families in the Gorge, raising $22,000 – $23,000 of the $192,000 in total that came in and was distributed to over 40 families in the community.
Also, during the days of Helene, the church forwarded backpacks from Indian Trail and toys from various individuals to Lake Lure Classical Academy and McQuinn’s Store.
“We helped facilitate Christmas Items to both, as well as other areas in Western North Carolina impacted by Helene,” he said.
FEMA and other emergency response teams came to Chimney Rock Baptist for meetings during the disaster, finding ways to help the communities.
“Today Chimney Rock Baptist Church is a blessed congregation, comprised of families born and raised here and others from various parts of the USA that have moved to the area,” Rev. Heafner said.
The church supports 19 ministries outside the Southern Baptist Convention and has helped fund the building of a school in South Sudan and are currently trying to help Pastor Anton Roos of Lake Lure Baptist Church to raise another $45,000 so that a second floor upon completion, will be debt free.
The Lakeside Chapel is located beside the Pool Creek Picnic Park, 2724 Memorial Highway. Rev Heafner said the services are a bit shorter than the traditional 11 am service at the church building, but they offer a unique message by Heafner in the normal environment. People are invited and encouraged to sit on the chairs provided, in their cars or arrive in boats ready for the 9 am service.
“People come in their boats, tie them up, sometimes six to eight,” said Heafner. The church hopes additional docks can be built there in the future to accommodate more visitors to Lake Lure. “The lakeside service is a large part of the church’s outreach programs,” said church member Delilah Fisher, who joined the church in February 2025. “God led me here. It is a very special place to me,” she said.
Paula Moore and her husband joined the Chimney Rock Baptist in 1998 after moving her letter from First Baptist Church in Inman, SC. In 2002 she decided to be re-baptized.
Lifelong member, Bonnie Elliott, 99, said, “My mama started carrying me to this church when I was a baby,” she said.
At the 50th anniversary of the church on Aug. 29, 1976, a photograph of the church family shows at least 100 parishioners gathered on the front steps.
From a church directory is this description of the church — “what began as a meeting place in a log home in 1892 and renamed in 1926 has grown to become a ministry that not only serves the towns of Lake Lure and Chimney Rock, but reaches to the far ends of the earth.”
Today’s congregation is smaller and although the congregation is “aging”, the spirit of God remains.
Take a drive up to the area of CRBC where at 12 noon each day and later in the evening at 6 pm, the carillon tolls, reminding church members, families and tourists of the dedication of a group of parishioners who gather each Sunday to praise God as they have for 100 years.
