Four Holes Baptist Church in Orangeburg celebrated its bicentennial Nov. 3 at 11 a.m. with John O’Cain as guest speaker.
Four Holes Baptist Church was organized in 1813 in the Amelia Township area of Orangeburg County, called the Four Holes Community. The humble beginnings took place under a brush arbor, according to original church records. The first building of worship was a pole structure built on the same piece of land.
The first sanctuary of white clapboard was built in 1880. (The hand-hewn beams support the first floor of the Sunday school rooms in the main building used today.) The sanctuary had two front doors, one through which the men entered and one through which the women entered, with a partition down the middle of the room.
The church was remodeled in 1916. The present sanctuary was dedicated in 1966 and was remodeled in 1988 when a new multipurpose building was added.
Four Holes Baptist Church helped birth several other churches in the area. Tom McElhaney is the current pastor.
The current sanctuary of Four Holes Church.