Macedonia Baptist Church was organized in a log school house on the Olivet Road in the year 1869. The initial membership was approximately twenty, most of it coming from Bethel Church.

Among the first deacons of Macedonia were Jim Hombry, Thomas Fore and Thomas Knight. Among the first pastors were Johnny Parham, Joe Miller, Pinkney Rollins and Mr. Green. Joe Miller and Pinkney Rollins were the first delegates from the church to the Western Baptist Convention.

Due to the destruction of the old building by fire some eight or ten years after the church was organized, it became necessary to erect a new building. The church acted upon the matter in a regular order and the day was set to begin work, but when the appointed day came, only two men arrived. In fact, for several days only two men labored. They were Thomas Knight and Thomas Fore. However, the devotion and determination of these two men soon won out and a new house was erected.

The peak of the membership in the second building was about forty. Among the pastors and visiting ministers were Jim Plemmons, James Morgan, A. I. Justice and Mr. Edwards.

Due to the sale of land in the Olivette community to a company by the name of Fagg and Reynolds and the shift of population away from the section, it finally became necessary for Macedonia to move her building to a more central location. With this in mind, some time during the year of 1887, the present site was chosen and the building was moved. So great was the enthusiasm that enough men came with teams and wagons to complete the moving of the building in one day.

For a full half century Macedonia worshipped in the one room frame structure, adding on an average a little less than two members per year. Finally during the early thirties she began to awaken to the possibilities of the community and the need of a larger and more efficient building. The results were as follows:

In 1935 a building committee was appointed. This committee consisted of the pastor, Rev. Wayne Peek, the board of deacons, Herbert Redmon from Bethel and R.C. Lominac from Riverside. The committee worked hard for a year with very little noticeable results.

In July 1936 the ground was broken and the building program launched. This was undertaken with barely enough money in the treasury to purchase cement sufficient for pouring the foundation (about one hundred dollars), but from that day the building program progresses with almost clock-like precision on a pay-as-you-go basis. Men labored freely on the structure; men, women, and children worked hard to raise funds to the extent that material was furnished as fast as the workmen could use it.

On April 30, 1939 the people of Macedonia dedicated to God this present structure complete with furniture, heating system and landscaping. She has no indebtedness but, according to her creditors, has an excellent credit rating. Her membership in the past three years has increased and is, at present, one hundred eighty-four and her attendance in Sunday School has almost doubled.
Compiled by: R.R. Capps 1896-1939

After the dedication of the church in 1939, the people did not sit back to enjoy the luxuries of a new building but, having the zeal of any group of consecrated Christians, they continued to grow spiritually as a united body of Christians.

From 1939 to July 1946 there were four part-time pastors. Erskin Plemmons and Mr. Parris each served half time at Macedonia and Mt. Carmel. Mr. McHaffey and J.C. Pipes served other churches while serving Macedonia. During this period there was a growing need for a full-time pastor, but the church was not able financially to take such a step.

In the early part of 1946, the church unanimously agreed to call a full-time pastor. April 1946 the church voted to build a parsonage for such a man and elected to serve on the building committee Richard Lominac, Chairman Bill Jones, Neil Towe, G.G. Ball, Vernon Stewart, C.C. Ballard and Paul Rector. While under this financial burden the full-time pastor was called - Rev. Frank Hopkins, a young preacher from Wisconsin in August 1946.

By 1949 the parsonage was completed except for the basement and the church was again debt free by the first of the year. History again repeated itself, yes; the church for two years had realized the need for more space for Sunday School classes. Much prayer, thought, and discussion prevailed and, seemingly, the task was too great for the country church who has been burdened with building for so long.

The impossible happened. Mr. Carl Roberts, one of the church trustees, offered the church enough building space across the road from the church building to build an educational building. The church accepted the offer and later elected a building committee composed of David Sluder, chairman, Arlee Frisbee, Donald Ratcliff, M.L. Radford and R.R. Capps. On May 6, 1950 ground was broken for the educational building.

On July 4, 1950 the building committee and others met and built forms to pour footing. The building plan, which had been approved by the church, was a three story structure built of cinder blocks and later veneered with brick.

About sixteen thousand feet of timber was given by some of the church members for the new building and the money given into the building fund by the time the building was underway amounted to about twenty-five hundred dollars. By August the fund was spent and the church voted to borrow twenty-five hundred dollars from the bank for a period of one year. By November 25th of the same year the building was partially sheeted, all subfloors were laid, and the windows were delivered. With more money being given to the building fund, the building could be occupied for class rooms by spring or early summer.

On the evening of November 25, 1950 the pastor, as usual, built a fire in the furnace of the church. At about one o'clock Sunday he discovered the church ablaze. The building was completely demolished before anyone could remove even a hymnal from the church. Sunday School was held in the parsonage on Sunday with a total number of thirty-nine present.

This afternoon at Mt. Carmel we have met to decide the future of Macedonia Baptist Church. Does the history of this church end here?
Compiled by R.L. Hayes, 1939-1950

As the church met at Mount Carmel to decide what to do, some people wondered if this would be the end of the History of Macedonia Baptist Church.

Well, the history of the church did not end here. After the fire the church met for service at the parsonage for a few weeks until the educational building, which was already under construction, was completed to the point that it could be occupied.

In 1956 a building program was started to build the sanctuary. Much of the labor was furnished by the men of the church. The church continued to have Sunday School and worship services in the educational building until the sanctuary was completed. The first service was held in the new sanctuary on April 6, 1958 with Rev. E.J. Hall as pastor.

On October 5, 1969 the church had a centennial celebration. The pastor at that time was Rev. Ed Yarbrough. Lunch was served following the morning worship service and then in the afternoon a special centennial service was held. Rev. E.V. Pemmons, a former pastor and the Buncombe Baptist Associational missionary at the time, delivered the message.

In 1970 the church bought ¼ acre of land for future expansion.

On September 15, 1974 the church voted by two thirds majority to begin Macedonia Early Education Center. It continued to operate until August of 1982.

In 1978 the church purchased 1.15 acres of land for future expansion. This land is located directly behind the church and was purchased from Carl Roberts.

In the spring of 1981 the church called a part-time youth director for the summer months.

In October of 1981 the church appointed a cemetery committee to look after the affairs of the church cemetery. Since that time they have been working to set up a perpetual care fund and draw up a plot map of the cemetery.

In the summer of 1982 the Macedonia Community Missions Club was organized. It meets once every month and shares a covered dish lunch and a program is presented. The club involves itself in various mission projects in the community. It is made up largely of retired people, but it is not limited to the group.

The pastors and interim pastors who have served the church in the past thirty years are; S.H. Roberts, E.J. Hall, J.C. Jetton, Ralph Hensley, Robert Clayton, Ed Yarbrough, Marvin Garrett, Charles Middleton, E.V. Plemmons and Jim Crayton.

As far as could be determined, four people have been ordained to the gospel ministry by the Macedonia Baptist Church. They are; Hugh Rymer, Ted Purcell, Dale Stewart, and Tim Yarbrough.

The following is a portion of an old history of the church. We were not able to determine who compiled this history, and there may be some repetition of what has already been stated; but we felt it contained some items of interest.
Compiled by: Historical Committee 1950-1982

ADDITIONAL HISTORY

When Macedonia was eighteen years of age, she decided, due to a shift in population, to move her building to a more central location. After some discussions, suggestions, offers, and other considerations, she accepted the generous offer made by the late Mr. and Mrs. Ged Rymer. This offer was a free gift of one acre of land on the east side of their estate adjoining Jenkins Valley Road where the cemetery is now located. Proper arrangements were made, and the day for moving the building was set. So great was the enthusiasm that enough men came, with teams and wagons, to dismantle the building and move the material to the new location in one day. The building was soon put back together and occupied by the church with little interruption of service. This was in the year 1887, when her membership numbered between forty and fifty. Among the pastors and visiting ministers, during the later part of the Olivet Road location, were the Reverends Jim Plemmons, James Morgan, A.I. Justice, and Mr. Edwards.

For some fifty-two years, 1887 to 1939, Macedonia worshiped and carried on her other church activities in this one room, frame structure, which she had moved from Olivet Road. Since this was a time of little ready cash, and a community of large farms, growth in membership and financial support was slow. Pastors usually came from distant communities on horseback, spent one weekend each month in the community, preached at eleven o'clock on Saturday and Sunday, and returned to their homes on Sunday afternoon. Until a few decades ago, there was no such thing as a designated salary for pastors. "Passing of the hat" was the only method of financial support for preachers. Many of them have been known to receive as little as one dollar and fifty cents per month for their services. Of course, people were hospitable in their homes and generous with other necessities of life, but ready cash was hard to come by. One of our former pastors during these difficult times, in reference to how church members supported their preachers, remarked, "Your prayers must go something like this, Lord bless your poor, humble preachers. You keep them humble and we will keep them poor."

Typical of this era is another instance which happened in another church not to far away. At the end of his sermon, the preacher announced that, being badly in need of a new pair of shoes, he was going to take up a collection in order to buy them. After passing the hat three times and making a short talk between, he still didn't get enough to buy a new pair of shoes. They would have cost about three dollars at the time.

Regardless of the hardship and difficulties of the time, Macedonia was blessed with a core of dedicated members, often referred to as "the faithful few". They stopped their plows, or whatever else they were doing, and attended on weekdays as well as Sunday. Regular monthly preaching service was at eleven o'clock on Saturday and Sunday on designated weeks each month. One revival was conducted each year, usually of two week duration. A time for the revival was chosen when farmers were least busy with their crops. Meeting time was eleven o'clock each morning and "Early candle light" each evening, every day until the close. Baptismal services were held shortly after the close of revival, winter or summer. Candidates were usually baptized in a creek, river or man-made pond. During the winter, it was often necessary to break the ice with poles on ponds before the ordinance of baptism could be carried on. Of course, these are some of the things which were common to most all country churches during the nineteenth and the early part of the twentieth century. Pastors and preachers, as a rule, were reluctant to preach on the subject of money, or say anything about their personal needs. They sincerely believed that, since God had called them into the ministry, He would supply their needs.

It would be hard to establish the exact date when Macedonia began to bestir herself. Perhaps the sowing of the seeds of expansion began in 1924, with Rev. J.C. Pipes as pastor. Brother Pipes, who was later to become a great friend and benefactor of Macedonia, as well as, of other Baptist churches over Western North Carolina, believed fervently that, being Christian in deed and in truth required sacrificial living in all material areas of life. He has been known to remark, "Many people are a Christian and still not Christian in their conduct" Many churches were led by his fervent efforts to launch out from their traditional "Sameria" toward "The uttermost parts of the world." He is the only pastor in the history of Macedonia Church to lead the church to spend more, in any one quarter of the year, for missions than for local expenses. It was the quarter, July, August, and September, 1943, with brother Pipes as supply pastor that 61.5% of our total expenditures went to missions, leaving only 38.5% for local expenses. Our total expenditures for that year went, approximately 49% for missions and 51% for local expenses, a record which has never since been matched by this church. - Author Unknown

During the 1970s and 1980s, Macedonia continued with a strong emphasis on missions. Rev. Jim Crayton was the pastor until 1987.

Mrs. Martha Hicks served as the Minister of Music and Education for 11 years from 1976 until 1987. Mrs. Hicks directed the adult and youth choirs while also providing direction for the church education programs such as Sunday School, Training Union, missions programs and Vacation Bible School. Following Mrs. Hicks' resignation, Brenda Shelton served as Minister of Music through December 2001. Outreach visitation, revivals, nursing home ministry, Christmas caroling and fruit basket deliveries to shut-ins were a few regular activities of the church, and these continue on even today. The adult choir sang during Sunday morning worship services with special cantatas at Christmas and Easter. The youth choir sang on Sunday evenings and regularly participated with the Buncombe Baptist Youth Choir on retreats held annually at Ridgecrest Baptist Conference Center and in Gatlinburg, TN. Macedonia's youth choir sang in the associational youth choir for a number of years between 1976 through 2001. Spring concerts were performed at Ridgecrest with Christmas musicals usually performed at larger local churches. The youth also began going on summer youth retreats to camps such as Camp Caswell on the North Carolina coast. Easter Sundays usually included a special Sunrise Service and church-wide breakfast followed by Sunday School and Worship Service at the regular time. This would be a tradition continued on for years to come. Also during these years, Lucille Jackson directed the church-wide Training Union program for all ages on Sunday evenings which took place prior to the worship services. These classes were made up of small groups of regular attenders who were eager to be trained in how to serve God more effectively. Lucille also directed the children and youth missions programs including the Sunbeams, Girls in Action, and Royal Ambassadors for many years and these programs were held on Wednesday nights. Hazel Camby served as WMU director for many years and encouraged church giving to the Annie Armstrong offering for home missions and the Lottie Moon offering for foreign missions. Rev. Leroy Denton was called as an interim pastor in 1989 and served until August of 1990.

During this interim time, the church was financially able to make much needed repairs to the parsonage as well as the church building. Pat Jones, Chairman of Building and Grounds, headed up this effort and facilitated all renovations with some assistance from other men in the church. Rev. Steve Cobb came as the next full-time pastor, called by the church at the recommendation of the Pulpit Committee which included Pat Jones as chairman, Virginia Stines, Hazel Camby, and Carl Westmoreland. Macedonia was Steve's first church following graduation from Southeastern Theological Seminary. The church experienced significant growth during his time at Macedonia from 1990 through June 1998. Wednesday evening services were moved from the choir room to the sanctuary in January 1991. Sunday School grew in attendance from an average of 75 up to an average of 160. The church voted to cover the oak sanctuary pews and this was done in March 1991 by Rex Sluder. It soon became necessary to increase parking space and add additional playground equipment for the growing children's ministry. With the increase in young families in the church, expansion of the nursery was necessary to include wall-mounted baby beds and separate toddler area. Children's Church for children over two years old began and the church invested in a video series and other educational materials for this group. Duke Seager was called as the first Children's Minister and served in that capacity from 1993 until 2002.

Karen Harwood was the first secretary to have an office at the church with regular hours.

Monthly newsletters mailed to church members became a new way of communicating announcements and upcoming events of the church. As more growth continued, the pulpit area was expanded to include space for the piano and organ, an additional pew was added to the choir loft, and eventually a new oak pulpit was made and the old one donated to another church in the area. The first sound system was purchased for the sanctuary which included mounted speakers, a wireless lapel microphone for the pastor, and several microphones for soloists and praise teams. Pastor Cobb's strong emphasis on discipleship was one factor in the church's spiritual growth. One-on-one teaching became a ripple effect as more and more men got involved in discipling new believers and anyone interested in a closer walk with the Lord. Macedonia led the Buncombe Baptist Association in baptisms and new members for several years. Monthly women's Bible study and prayer meetings began and continue on today. Men ordained to the ministry during this time included Jack Michaels who was the Associate Pastor from February 21, 1999 to October 22, 2000, and Larry Ledford who was the Minister of Youth from November 14, 1993 to February 2, 2003.

In March of 1993, discussion began for the need of a new educational building with more space. In July 1993, heat pumps were purchased which would provide air conditioning for the sanctuary (?) and educational building for the first time in its history. Wednesday evening family style suppers began with a minimal charge to cover the cost of food with no family paying more than ten dollars. The church continued to grow and it became necessary to have two services on Sunday mornings. The new 8am service was a more contemporary worship style with congregational music led by a praise team. Also while at Macedonia, Pastor Cobb earned his doctorate degree from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary. In 1995, preliminary drawings for the Family Life Center were completed. In February 1997, the church voted to approve the proposal of a new building. No further progress on this building was made prior to Pastor Cobb's resignation in May 1998 to accept a call to Temple Baptist Church in New Bern, NC. Rev. Jack Michaels was the supply pastor until Dr. James Johnson came as interim pastor in August. Dr. Johnson was interim pastor for the next 18 months. It was during this time that Macedonia proceeded with building a new Family Life Center which would provide much needed Sunday School space, large kitchen and dining area for church functions, and also new offices for the pastor and secretary. The church received numerous donations of labor, equipment and supplies. Regular Saturday work days organized by the Building and Grounds Committee and Brotherhood involved men, women and children in the fellowship. Dr. Johnson's presence, hard work and support throughout were a blessing to the project which was completed on a pay-as-you-go basis with no long-term debt to the church. The Family Life Center was dedicated to the Lord in 2003.

Rev. Michael Funderburk was the next pastor called to Macedonia and he began serving September 24, 2000. He encouraged the church in reaching the lost in our community and beyond. He began the GROW outreach program and enlisted approximately 80 people to participate in weekly visitation teams. In January of 2002, Teresa Boyer joined the staff as Minister of Music. She continues to lead the Kids for Christ choir and Adult Choir. In 2004, Keith Hutchinson was ordained to the ministry and served as Youth Pastor from November 9, 2003 until March 5, 2005. At that time, Duke Seager became the Minister to Youth. He leads the Youth in Wednesday and Sunday night bible study, takes the students on a yearly retreat and leads a youth revival each year. In January of 2005, a new children's program called Awanna was started and incorporated Bible study and Scripture memorization, group activities, and music. On July 31, 2005 Pastor Funderburk resigned and Dr. James Johnson returned again as interim pastor from November 6, 2005 through January 8, 2006. In December 2005, Rev. Charles Phillips was called to Macedonia and he began serving in January 15, 2006. Preacher Phillips brought many years of experience to Macedonia and connected quickly to all age groups in the membership. Numerous improvements have been made including relocation of the children's playground behind the Family Life Center. The new playground was dedicated in April 2007. In October 2007, the church was incorporated for the first time. A new paved parking area was completed in 2008 that allowed for better traffic flow and provided additional parking spaces. The sound area at the back of the sanctuary was enclosed to allow for better sound control and video capabilities. Another major accomplishment was the complete revision of the church bylaws.

The Kids for Christ children's ministry began to evolve in 2008 with the addition of Melanie and John Pitrolo. The children meet each Wednesday night for bible study, music and fun. The group also participates in activities such as lock-in's at the church and visiting a maze as well as participation in mission activities.

The Alexander Trio developed as a gospel singing group in 2005. The trio includes Kaye Taylor, Tammy Bowling and Donna Warren. This group released a self-titled CD in Fall of 2008 and currently sings at various churches and different events.

Sunday School continues to be a focus at Macedonia. Various mission opportunities are made available through the Brotherhood and Women On Mission Groups. Each year, the ladies make Jesus Loves You bears for the Mountain State Fair and participate in putting together shoeboxes with much needed items for children in underprivileged countries through the Operation Christmas Child ministry.