Weldon Celebrates Its Religious Roots

PRESS RELEASE: For Immediate Release

FOLLOW UP ON THE March 20, 2025 Event

The Irvin Francis Kyle III Speaker Program (est. 2022)

Weldon Celebrates Its Religious Roots:

Alice Joyner Irby - April 15, 2025

WELDON’S RELIGIOUS ROOTS was the theme of the sixth installment of The Irvin Francis Kyle III Speaker Program hosted by Weldon In Action on March 20 at Halifax Community College. An audience of about seventy attendees ignored thunderstorms to learn the history of the churches. 

The event was sponsored by Francis Kyle's brother, Bernard Francis Kyle.

Alice Irby, President and founder of Weldon In Action and co-founder of the Speaker Program, delivered a tribute to Rev. Francis Kyle, who inspired the speaker program's founding. Rev. Kyle   “had a way of touching various layers of our community,” she said.  “He saw something which was not obvious to the rest of us.  In Weldon’s early decades, our religious roots were as strong and deep as the trade on the river, the commerce on the railroads, the rich harvests of our farms, and the businesses downtown.”  

 Rev. Alice A. Horner, St. Matthews A.M.E. Church, offered a moving invocation, expressing gratitude for community unity and God’s Grace.

In the 1800s, a town of several hundred Weldon citizens formed six churches. Their twentieth-century buildings still stand for visitors to see and appreciate.  

Dr. Stanley Edwards spoke about the First Baptist Church, Mr. Tom Wellman about Grace Episcopal Church, Ms. Martha Deloatch about St. Matthews A. M. E. church, Ms. Shirley Boone about St. Peters Missionary Church, Rev. Randy Martin and Mr. Nat Vaughan about the Weldon Baptist Church, and Mr. George Joyner and Rev. Sue Owen about the Weldon Methodist Church. Dr. Florine Bell wrapped up the session with a stirring commentary on the historical importance of churches in the development of Weldon and the current existence of numerous evangelical churches operating today.

 In the beginning, they all faced similar difficulties.  Organizers met in the homes of individuals or in whatever physical places they could find.  The First Baptist met in a brush arbor, which is made of bush and limbs in the woods, placed around an open area for protection.  The first service of Grace Episcopal was conducted by an ordained minister in 1863, either in the Literary hall or the dining room of one of the hotels. 

St. Matthew’s founders worshiped first in an old store that had a dirt floor and no seats.  They had to sit on wooden boxes. Members who started St. Peter's met in Vick’s Old Coffin Shop, located on Second Street.  The organization of the Weldon Baptist Church took place in a vacant room over a downtown store and was first known as Roanoke Baptist Church. The Weldon Methodist Church was started in 1845 by a group of seven people. They built a building right away on the banks of the Roanoke Canal.

Well into the twentieth century, the churches thrived and grew. The Methodists built a second church on Third and Mulberry Streets.  When they outgrew that in 1910, they moved to a much larger, Gothic building on Washington Avenue.  That was fortuitous for the First Baptist congregation, which was also growing, because they purchased the frame building on Third Street and added a brick veneer outside.  That church continues its service to the community today.  

The Weldon Baptists expanded from their location on Elm Street to Washington Avenue with a large new structure. The noise of the trains coupled with the noise of the parishioners talking over each other, led them to seek a new place.  While they grew in number, they also grew in different points of view and different interpretations of Scripture.  Years later, within a period of ten years, two new churches split off to form, first the Free Will Baptist Church in South Weldon, and then the Good News Baptist Church.  There were dynamic ministers along the way, and three of them became missionaries to other countries.

St. Matthews A.M.E., one of many churches formed on the principles of the early Mother Bethel Church, A.M.E. Church in Philadelphia, enjoyed growth and merged with St. Luke’s of Halifax in 1964.  But it also suffered great losses before that time. In 1937, the church was partially destroyed when hit by lightning, and on Christmas Day in 1948, the church was totally destroyed by fire.  Each time it persevered and rebuilt.

Grace Episcopal is distinctive in that its building is on the National Register of Historic Places, and it features a stained-glass window donated by Paul Garrett, a successful local vintner in Weldon, who donated the window in memory of two sons.  Not exclusively characteristic of 

Grace Episcopal parishioners, people had a habit of navigating to the seats in the back of the sanctuary.  Nor did people sit in another person’s pew.  When a new minister came, he noticed there were no worshipers in the front rows—all in the back.  When he asked why—had he offended them—they said they had always sat in the back, and those who sat up front had died.  Sadly, the church closed in December 2024.

The early churches were ecumenical.  A note in the cornerstone of Weldon Methodist Church revealed that the early church invited both African Americans and Whites to attend and to join.  St. Peter's was successful, in part, because the members sought support across the community.  Mr. T.  L. Emry, a White man, gave the property on Mulberry Street.  Mrs. Hattie Gatling was not only the historian of the church but a major fundraiser who approached anyone she thought might help.  Mrs. Boone described the effort, “Nobody was exempt from her begging for a donation. She would “hit up” everybody in Weldon of any color because that's just the way she was, and she always got support from the Weldon community.”  

The names of Long family members run through the histories of several churches.  After the Civil War, the Weldon Methodist was kept alive by Mrs. Sallie Long and Miss Bettie Evans.  The organizers of the First Baptist Church met in the home of Mrs. Sallie Long on West Second and Chestnut Street.  Fundraising for the Episcopal church began with Mrs. Charles J. Gee and Miss Mary A. Long.

Faith brings people together, regardless of circumstance.  The First Baptist continues to serve the Lord through serving the community, not just spiritually. Dr. Edwards said, “If they need food, we give them food.  If they are sick, we help them.  We get them involved in public schools.  We can’t draw people to the Lord and yet push them away. We do whatever we can to help them.”  St. Matthew's A.M.E. Church is very much involved in community outreach.  During COVID, a lady pastor drove a 16-wheeler from Raleigh to Weldon to distribute food down at Riverside Park.  They distributed masks, gloves, disinfectants, bread, milk—whatever was needed.

Churches in Weldon today, now more numerous than in the past, range from small fellowships to mega-churches. They are largely non-denominational.  The two largest are Evangelical Church of Deliverance, founded in 1969, currently served by Pastor Clarence L Harris, Sr., and Valley Community Church on Hwy 158. Additionally, there are ten more churches in Weldon and South Weldon, which, when added to the two mega churches and four 19th-century churches still operating, total sixteen.  

Dr. Bell summed it up best. “Historically, churches have been ancient pillars of the bible that have impacted and fostered a sense of belonging and solidary within our towns and respected neighborhoods.  Firstly, churches provide spiritual and moral guidance in a designated place for worship.  Churches often provide services far beyond their primary religious function, offering reflection, advice, and counsel on ethical and moral issues, thereby shaping the values of our distinguished community.  

“Churches are the backbone of our society, providing aid to those in need, including food, shelter, and financial assistance. They act as safety nets, becoming places and palaces of refuge for our most vulnerable populations….Moreover, churches give us a sense of reassurance and hope.”

Pastor Kyle was right.  Its churches have been the pumping heart of Weldon throughout its history.  That is one reason that people who leave town leave their hearts back in Weldon.  

To read more on this subject, including an in-depth history of each church, supplements that were available at the event, and Dr. Fluorine Bell’s comments, please visit https://www.weldoninaction.com/blog.