Two prior pastors — Lamar Holley, who spoke at the church’s bicentennial observance in 1975, and Van Pigate, who served in the early 1980s — brought keynote messages for Lawtonville Baptist Church’s 250th anniversary celebration March 2.
During the service, which was attended by between 260 and 300 people, Susan Hatcher, the congregation’s previous music director, and her husband sang “The Love of Christ.” Longtime member Judy Greene sang a hymn entitled “Lawtonville,” which had not been performed since its bicentennial.
When Lawtonville Baptist Church was constituted in March 1775, South Carolina was still a province of Great Britain. Then known as The Savannah River, Carolina, Church, it was situated in upper St. Peter’s Parish near the Savannah River.
The congregation was known as Pipe Creek Church of Regular Baptists after a building was constructed on Pipe Creek. Sixteen members were on the original roll, and 68 members were listed in 1778.
Prior to 1836, the church moved to Lawtonville, where it remained through the Civil War. Although much of the village was burned in 1865, the church building survived since it was being used as a hospital for Union soldiers.
In 1884, the name was changed to Lawtonville Baptist Church. Then, in 1911, the congregation moved to Estill, which was developing several miles east along a new railroad line from Columbia to Savannah.
The first service in its present sanctuary was held March 3, 1912, and was dedicated on May 4. The sanctuary’s interior and exterior featured Late Gothic Revival architecture. One hundred years later, the building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and a historical marker was erected.
Asbury Lawton, a native of Greenville, S.C., has served as senior pastor at Lawtonville since 2019.
“I believe that we are blessed,” Lawton told The Baptist Courier. “The fact that time has passed and generations have gone — yet Lawtonville (through wars, pestilence, economic, and global crisis) has remained as a beacon of hope for Christ in this area, serving the Lord both at home and abroad — is proof of God’s mercy, grace, and provision to those who remain faithful to serve Him.”