Chancellor's History
Chancellor Baptist Church began as a dream of the Missions Committee of the Fredericksburg Baptist Association in the early 1970s. Through the generosity of Mr. George Thorburn, the association was able to obtain just over twelve acres of land on Gordon Road for $15,000. This property was designated for the site of a mission church to be established later.
The dream continued in the late 1980s and the Salem Baptist Church agreed to act as the "Mother Church" for a new mission. The first meeting of the new mission church was on September 11, 1988 at the home of Vic and Sara Meadows. The first Sunday morning Bible Study and Worship services were realized with twenty-four people representing five different churches. The missionary zeal of these individuals quickly spread into the community as they moved to the Minnieland Childcare Center on Leavells Road on November 6, 1988. The Reverend Russell Irwin served as Pastor of the mission church. Janet Gregory Moore was called as Minister of Music. She served in that role until 1994. In 1989, the Reverend Ron Blades was called to serve as Minister of Education and Youth. He remained in that position for about one year. The twenty-four grew to more than one hundred people whole gathering at Minnieland.
The fourth Sunday of June became a special day for the church family in the years that followed. On June 25, 1989, the church met at Salem baptist Church in worship. On behalf of the Mother Church, the Reverend Kelly Lane presented the names of the charter members to the Reverend Russell and the chartering was completed.
On June 24, 1990, the church family met at the Gordon Road site with Dr. Phil Rodgerson of the Virginia baptist General Board, officiating the ground-braking ceremony for the church building. On Sunday, June 23, 1991, the building was dedicated to be used for God's work in the Chancellor community. The growth of the church continued through the first year of the building's use, and within one year membership reached 326.
The first full year of Chancellor's ministry in the new building brought the need for a second worship service and the purchases of additional property and house to use for Sunday School. To meet additional need for ministry, the Reverend John Recktenwald was called to serve as Minister of Education and Youth in September 1992.
In December 1992, The Reverend Russell Irwin resigned to move home to Tennessee. The Reverend Eric Goforth was called as Pastor in February 1994, and the Reverend McKenneth King became Minister of Music in May 1994. The Reverend Kevin Carter came to Chancellor to serve as the Associate Pastor of Education and Administration in 1999. Reverend Fritz Teeple served as the Minister of Youth until 2007; he now serves as Pastor Emeritus.
Due to continued growth, the church began a second Sunday School in the fall of 1994. Further growth by the fall of 1995 lead the church to begin a building campaign to increase the size of the Sunday School space. The completion of the Education wing occurred in 1998.
It is hoped that we will continue to increase our capacity and ability to reach out in ministry to the people around us who need to grow in the knowledge of God's love through Jesus Christ. May God continue to bless and enable us in this mission.