Trending
ELKINS -- The Landmark Baptist Church of Elkins celebrated its 35 years of ministry in the community with a cookout after services on Sunday.
The church, which was founded by Dr. Kenneth Shiflet in 1991, began as a mission work fully supported by Landmark Baptist Church of Richmond, the Atlantic Baptist Bible Fellowship, and 16 other Baptist churches.
The church’s first service took place on July 21, 1991, and was conducted by Shiflet to a congregation of 15 at the Odd Fellows Lodge. The church moved to a conference room at the Econo Lodge several weeks later, before meeting in a rental space on Lavalette Avenue.
The Landmark Baptist Church of Elkins officially organized in early 1992 with 36 members. The property on Forest Brook Drive where the church is currently located was purchased in the spring of 1995.
The church was constructed by volunteer laborers from New Testament Church Planting, members of Landmark Baptist and other churches. A new addition to the church was constructed in 2002, contributing much-needed seating, a nursery facility, and Sunday School space. More seating, additional Sunday School space, and a new entrance on Harrison Avenue were added in 2006.
Shiflet, a Richwood native, who still runs and is pastor of the church, said he is pleased with how far it has come over the years.
“Things have gone really well the entire time we’ve been here,” Shiflet said. “Back before COVID, we would have around 250 people come out for Sunday service. But COVID kind of changed church attendance all over, but we still have quite a few people come to church and we are still doing really well. We now have around 130 coming out for Sunday’s service.”
Shiflet, who is a 1990 graduate of Atlantic Baptist Bible College in Chester, Virginia, credits the church’s success to his mentor, Jim Sumpter, who was the head of a large church in Virginia.
“I was fortunate, I had an older guy (Sumpter) who trained me and helped me make good decisions,” Shiflet said. “You have to make good decisions and look at things realistically and I was fortunate enough to have Jim (Sumpter) there for support. I had a lot of help from Jim and I’ve had a lot of pastors tell me they wished they would have had somebody like that help them when they were young. I would like to be able to pick up the phone and call him for advice today. He had a church for 40 years and knew a lot about longevity.”
Sunday School takes place at the church each Sunday at 10 a.m. The church also hosts a prayer meeting and Bible study on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. For more information, contact the church office at 304-636-6229.