The Roberta Baptist Church was organized on May 6, 1900. Brother F. C. Melton of Cale, Indian Territory, was elected pastor. A. P. Hall was the first church clerk. Members recognized in good standing were: Bro. A. P. Hall, J. S. Robertson, Sister S. A. Hall, Sister D. J. Stone, and Sister M. E. Stone.
Meetings were held the first Sunday of each month and the Saturday evening prior to the first Sunday. The services were held in the Odd Fellows hall, and the Methodist congregation held their meetings in this building also.
A warranty deed dated April 27, 1918, records that A. L. Yandell and Zora Yandell, his wife, sold one acre in the SW corner of Lot 3, being 35 yards wide north and south and 140 yards east and west in Section 19, Township 7, South Range 10 East for the sum of $50 to: The Deacons of the Baptist Church and the Stewards of the Methodist Episcopal Church South and their successors.
August 30, 1931, church minutes show that the sale of the Odd Fellows Hall was brought before the church. The Odd Fellows Lodge building was offered to the Baptist and the Methodists for a total of $400. The Methodists declined the offer; the Baptists voted to buy the property in its entirety. The only thing needed then was the $400. Sparlin and Verlin Loyd (brothers) and R. A. and Junior Shepard (brothers) each gave $100 to complete this transaction.
When the Baptists became owners of the Odd Fellows’ two-story building, they voted to demolish it and use the lumber to build a one-story church building. All work in tearing down and rebuilding was to be done by volunteer labor. Troy Haworth was appointed project supervisor. R. A. Shepard said that one of the reasons that Troy Haworth was appointed project supervisor was because he was the only one in the community that owned an electric saw.
A quit claim deed was recorded January 12, 1951, from Ira E. Williams, District Superintendent of the Methodist Episcopal church to the Deacons of Baptist Church, Roberta, Oklahoma, at 2:00 p.m., recorded in Book 282 at page 598 showing payment of $150 giving the Baptists full ownership of the acre of land previously owned by both Methodists and Baptists.
On the first Sunday in January, 1953, the church voted to tear down the old church building. A Building Committee was appointed to visit other churches and then to present plans to the church body for a new building. Services would be held in the Roberta School gymnasium until the new building could be completed. The membership also voted to salvage materials from the old building and reuse any reusable material in the new building. This building program was begun during the pastorship of Brother R. P. Thompson, with Brother Thompson leaving in September of 1953.
The first service was held in the new building on the third Sunday of October, 1953. Brother S. B. Lowrey preached the first sermon in the new church. Brother Lowrey was later called as pastor.
The original
building constructed in 1953 consisted of one large room (sanctuary) and two
classrooms on each side of the stage. Improvements
were made to this church building during the next few years. The first addition consisted of two classrooms and a small
foyer at the front of the building. This
project was completed while Brother Boyd R. Townsend was pastor. The next addition was four classrooms added to the south side of the
building during the pastorship of Brother Frank Morrison. Two bathrooms were added to the south end of the newer classrooms while
Brother Bob Gibson was pastor. Later,
siding and new paint were added. Air
conditioning units were added in 1969.
On January 8,
1986, Brother Roy White, pastor, initiated a discussion of a new church
building. A vote was called, and
the vote passed, to build a new building, with the stipulation that construction
would begin when sufficient money had been raised. A Building Committee was named, made up of Leon Daniel, Dannie Daniel,
Harry Duncan, and Joe Wilson.
In April of 1989, Mrs. Delores White made a $5,000 contribution to the Building Fund in memory of her husband, our late pastor, Brother Roy White. In May of 1989, $20,000 of Building Fund money was put in a CD at the bank. On January 10, 1990, work began on the present building. Leon Daniel was named supervisor of the building project.
Roberta Baptist Church members met for the first time in the new building on Sunday, April 14, 1991, with services being held in the Fellowship Hall. (The sanctuary was not yet completed.) The piano and speaker’s stand were on a temporary stage just in front of the doors to what would be the sanctuary. Brother Dale Ballard, pastor, preached from this temporary stage.
On Sunday morning, September 6, 1992, the first service was held in the new sanctuary. Brother Dale Ballard, pastor, did the preaching that day. On November 4, 1992, Leon Daniel reported that all the work was completed. A commendation of appreciation was extended to Leon Daniel for all the excellent work done in order to have such a beautiful place to worship our Lord. Without his immeasurable efforts and long hours of work, much of this would not have been possible.
Dedication services were held on Sunday, November 8, 1992, at 2:00 p.m. with Brother Sam Vinall delivering the dedication message. On Wednesday evening, July 12, 1995, the first service was held in the Roberta Church with new pews in place.
Brother Dale Ballard retired as pastor of Roberta Baptist Church and Brother Bud Jenkins began preaching as an Interim Pastor in July 2001. The Church was so impressed with Brother Bud that they extended a call for him to be their Pastor. Brother Bud came out of retirement and assumed the Pastorate January 1, 2002. At the same time the Church called Brother Jackie Robinson to be Associate Pastor which he accepted effective on the same date January 1, 2002.
March 4, 2002 we began the new building with Bob and Joann Moore, mission
volunteers, serving as Building Superintendent. During the month of May the
Campers on Mission volunteers helped by constructing the framing and stairs.
On April 7, 2002 the Church ordained Jackie Robinson to the Gospel Ministry
and Clyde Wayne Robinson as Deacon.
An all-purpose building was begun in the Spring of 2002 with building missionaries, Bob and JoAnn Moore, doing much of the work. This project is on-going at the time of this writing.