Robinwood Baptist Church held it's very first service on October 1, 1989. It was the vision of the late Dr. Bobby Perry, formerly the Director of Missions for the Gulf Coast Baptist Association, to plant a church near the Robinwood neighborhood of Saucier, MS. He was joined by seven people from Faithview Baptist Church, Saucier, MS. which had agreed to be our sponsoring church. These seven people were Marvin & Carlene Dearchs, Nick Nelms, Thelma Mauffray, Wallace Jones, and Bobbie & Pauline Wedgeworth.
That first Sunday we had 29 in Sunday School and 51 in worship service. At the end of the month, we had 20 members. Wallace Jones led our music and Rev. Bobbie Wedgeworth was our founding pastor. We met in a portable chapel that was moved from Robinson Road Baptist Church and used a trailer that we acquired from Big Level Baptist Church. By July of 1993, we had 102 members, 26 members by baptism, and over $56,000.00 in our building fund. The building fund was started by brother Wallace with a generous $1,000.00 donation. He had already caught a vision for the future of this church but sadly passed away in October 1991.
Here are several milestones our church experienced over those early years:
- August 1992, the first wall went up on one of the hottest days of the year.
- April 3, 1993, we had terrible rainstorms that Saturday night.
- April 4, 1993, we held our first service in our new sanctuary. The rainstorms from the previous night made getting to the church rather difficult since the parking lot was not paved. Despite the rain, we had 61 in Sunday School and 108 in worship with four new additions.
- June 1993, we held our first Vacation Bible School.
- April 19, 1998, we held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new educational building and a note burning of the present loan.
- November 22, 1998, we held a dedication service for the newly completed educational building and remodeled sanctuary.
Each person volunteered to do whatever they could do. Whether it was teach a class, usher, play the piano or lead the music, they would fill these positions for as long as needed. Oh, how God has blessed since October 1989! God said, "You build, I will provide." We have been truly blessed with talented people to do the work God has called us to do.
