Our History
Fellowship Baptist Church
More than a half century ago, the miraculous story of Fellowship Baptist Church officially began, on May 12, 1968. The sun was shining bright on that inaugural Sunday as Rev. Charles Ennis, the founding pastor, and twelve Charter Members organized this mission work into the Fellowship Baptist Church of Clayton, NC.
This humble group of believers, believing God had led in the birthing of this new church, began to move forward in faith. The same month that the church was chartered, Mr. Chester Capps of Clayton, donated one acre of land on West Main Street, on which to build the first building, thus establishing this gospel lighthouse on Clayton’s west side. The first simple church building was a labor of love, being constructed by the volunteer efforts of the church membership. Just two months after the charter service, the church held its first service in this building on July 7, 1968. A record attendance of 49 people attended that service in the new tabernacle.
Rev. Ennis would faithfully serve as the pastor of Fellowship Baptist Church until his retirement in 2019, becoming the Pastor Emeritus. For 51 years, Fellowship benefitted from the steady and inspirational leadership of Rev. Charles Ennis. The growth of the church enabled Rev. Ennis to resign from his position from Shallcross Mfg. Company, and assume the responsibilities of a full-time Pastor in December 1969. Fifteen months later, in March of 1971, construction of the first Sanctuary began. Since that time the Church acreage on Clayton’s west side has grown to over 15 acres available for ministry. Over the next twenty years, the church would build two additional educational facilities. Beginning in September of 1991, construction would begin on the main church Auditorium and Office Building, that we still enjoy today. This beautiful new building, became the heart of church worship and ministry at the Dedication Service, held on January 26, 1992. At the beginning of 1997, planning and preparation would officially begin for the eventual construction of the next major building on our church property, the beautiful Dr. Charles R. Ennis Educational Building. This tremendous addition to our church included a full-size gymnasium and a two-story educational complex.
Many great milestones mark the five-decade long ministry of Dr. Ennis. In February 1995, Fellowship Baptist Church purchased the WHPY, 1590 AM, Radio Station, turning it from a community station into a Christian radio station. Included in that purchase was two 165 ft. towers, located on four additional acres of land just off Winston Road which is about three miles from the main church property.
Another great milestone occurred in January 1996, when the Clarksville Theological College and Seminary moved to Clayton to become a ministry of our church. Clarksville is a Christian College, that was started in Clarksville, Tennessee in 1952. Upon the College and Seminary moving to Clayton, Dr. Ennis was made President of CTC&S. Clarksville Theological Seminary offers Degrees in Theology and Religious Education. They are Associate, Bachelor, Master, and Doctorate Degrees in these two fields of study.
The great impact of our founding pastor and his dear wife, Dr. Charles & Barbara Enni,s lives on in the many lives they have touched through the years. Dr. Ennis is the author of four books and has been in great demand for many years as a preacher all across eastern North Carolina. It is a great joy to still have Dr. & Mrs. Ennis active members in the ministries of the church.
A new and exciting chapter in the life of our church began in August of 2019. After half a century of ministry Dr. & Mrs. Ennis retired and the church called Dr. Jon Jenkins to become our new Senior Pastor. Pastor & Mrs. Jenkins founded and served as Senior Pastor of a great church for over thirty-three years, in the state of Michigan.
Pastor & Mrs. Jenkins hit the ground running when they arrived in August of 2019. The church has grown steadily since the beginning of Pastor Jenkins ministry. Despite the COVID pandemic, the church has added multiple new families to our membership and undergone extensive renovations, repurposing, and remodeling across our church campus since. Major renovations have taken place in our main church building including extensive remodeling of the auditorium, total remodeling of all the lobby and hallways, and the remodeling and doubling of our nurseries and bookstore. The former Academy building was completely remodeled, rebuilt, and repurposed after being mothballed for many years into the Barbara Ennis Early Education Ministry Center. The beautiful Barbara Ennis Building now houses the classrooms for all the Fellowship Kids Ministries. This state-of-the-art ministry space is dedicated to building a Biblical foundation in the lives of the precious children of our church.
In addition to serving as the senior pastor of this Fellowship, Dr. Jenkins was installed in November of 2019 as the fourth President of the Clarksville Theological College and Seminary. Dr. Brian Money was installed as the College & Seminary Vice-President at the same time, after serving in the capacity of Dean of the college for over a decade. Students from the area, and many other states and countries have and are earning their degrees through the ministry of CTC&S.
Pastor Jenkins has written several bestselling books. He travels extensively speaking in national conferences, holding local church revivals, church growth conferences, family conferences, camp meetings, youth conferences, and youth camps. Dr. Jenkins reserves his best energy however, for the Fellowship Baptist church family and the growing population of our community.
Dr. Jenkins is an inspirational Bible teacher and preacher with a heartbeat and passion to strengthen families, build marriages, mentor young people, and develop Christ followers. Dr. Jenkins has a unique burden to provide hope and healing for those whose lives have experienced brokenness.
The Jenkins family faced the devastating loss of their middle son, Brandon at the age of thirty, in January of 2020. Through this incredible heartbreak, Pastor and Mrs. Jenkins, and their entire family found God’s grace and strength to be their ever-present help. Through their brokenness many have been helped and touched by their trust and hope that they have found in a loving Heavenly Father.
