Dilworth Baptist Church

Welcome to the history of Dilworth Baptist Church

Dilworth Baptist Church had it’s beginnings in the 1937 crusade led by Evangelist Mordicai Hamm, the same crusade in which Evangelist Dr.Billy graham came to accept Christ as his Lord and Savior.  In fact, it was the first pastor of Dilworth, J. D. Prevatte, who led Dr. Graham to Christ.

J. D. Prevatte and Stuart H. Boward met at the Preacher Hamm’s Revival Service.  At that time the Prevattes’ lived on Park Road at Frank Graham’s farm.  Mr. Prevatte and Mr. Boward became great friends from the very start.  Mr. Prevatte was an ordained minister, but had fallen short of the glory of God.  He had a Tailor shop in uptown Charlotte.  Mr. Boward worked for Duke Power Company uptown.

Mr. Prevatte and Mr. Boward decided to start a small mission church.  They rented a small wooden duplex on East 18th Street.  They tore out walls and scrubbed, painted and cleaned.  The result was a little church with two front doors.  They named it Gospel Baptist Church.  Jeff Barbee and N. E. Brown became interested in the project and got everyone they could to help.  They went door to door inviting people to the little church.  It soon became very successful.

At the mission they had Sunday school and Preaching at two o’clock in the afternoon.  This gave everyone an opportunity to go to another church for early services.

Wednesday night services consisted of singing and testifying.  They went weekly to the Juvenile Jail to visit with the young girls and boys.

They visited the Jail on 4th street about once a month.  They also had many home prayer meetings.  This enabled working people without time to come to other meetings a chance to worship in a neighbors home.

The little 18th Street Mission was always full.  Prayer for more space were answered when Mr. Prevatte saw a for sale sign on the Little Rock Seventh Day Adventist Church.  He contacted Mr. Boward and they met at the church, knelt down on the side walk and prayed.  The church added more followers.

Mr. Prevatte started a radio program on WSOC called Radio Gospel Time.  It was broadcast from the basement of the Mecklenburg Hotel across from the old train station.

Every year the church hosted a New Year’s Eve service.  Billy Graham would be home from college and drop by delivering a short message or midnight prayer (at that time they just called him Billy Frank).

The little church continued to prosper, leading to the need for more space.  The land on the corner of Ideal Way and McDonald Avenue was purchased.  They built the new church and moved in 1948.  The land also had two houses which served as housing for the pastor and the nursery.

Sadly Reverend Prevatte passed away in early 1948 before the church relocated.  John Buchamer succeeded Reverend Prevatte.  The next few years the church struggled.  In 1952 the church was adopted as a Southern Baptist mission church by Charlotte First Baptist Church.  The pastor at that time was Ken Wilson.

In 1960 Dilworth Baptist Church was constituted as a Southern Baptist Church.  Frank Crumpler was the pastor at that time.  The Sunday school enrollment reached an all time high of 301.

The church had once again outgrown it’s facility and plans were made for a new worship center.  In 1963 the current church facility was dedicated to its current tasks.  Jerry Townsend was the pastor at that time.

Pastor Townsend was succeeded by Charley Clark.  During his last year as pastor (1973), the church recorded it’s highest number of baptisms, record membership and Sunday school attendance.

Pastor Clark was succeeded by Reverend Bill Pruitt who faithfully served for twenty-four years, the longest tenure of any pastor.

Dilworth Baptist prayerfully considers steps to take to effectively reach the world for Christ in the new millennium.  May God be praised for the past sixty-plus years of ministry and bless the coming achievements for the growth of Christ’s Kingdom.