Big Creek Baptist Church, Williamston, will celebrate its 225th anniversary in the coming months, capped with a homecoming service on Aug. 4.

Big Creek is the oldest Baptist church in Anderson County “that has continued as an active organization since its beginning,” according to a news release provided by the church.

The church was constituted in 1788 through the efforts of Moses Holland, a native of Virginia who migrated South to find suitable land for cultivation and “a promising field for the gospel he felt led to proclaim.”

Holland, who settled along the Saluda River, was likely was one of the first Baptist ministers who settled in the Pendleton District (as a large portion of Anderson County was known then). A marker found near Holland’s home along the Saluda River is inscribed with the words “Big Creek Church 1788.”

It is unknown what year Big Creek Church moved to its present location outside Williamston. A wooden frame meeting house with a balcony was built at the present site. The structure served the community until 1875, when the Old Chapel that stands today was built on or around the original structure.

In 1968, ground was broken to erect a new church beside the beloved chapel, and the new building was completed later in that same year. In 1980, the church burned, and all was lost except for the Old Chapel, which was used as a meeting place until the new church building that stands today beside the Chapel was erected in 1981.

On May 5, the church will hold Old-Fashioned Day, with worshipers encouraged to dress in period costumes. Services will be held in the Old Chapel.

On Aug. 4, the church will celebrate its 225th birthday with a homecoming service. Mickey Gambrell and Ray Ridgeway will be guest speakers.

Mitch Gambrell is pastor of Big Creek.