In 1989 Mr. and Mrs. Charles Poindexter and Mr. and Mrs. Ron Tucker contacted Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina, concerning the establishment of an independent, fundamental church in Williamsburg, Virginia. Michael R. Privett was presented with this need, and after much prayer, the Privetts discerned that the Lord was leading them to Williamsburg to start this church. A new independent, Bible-preaching church, named “Faith Baptist Church,” was founded on December 11, 1989.
Michael, along with Sheri, and Joshua (their three-month-old son), moved to Williamsburg on December 30, 1989. The first service of Faith Baptist Church was held at the home of the Poindexters on January 7, 1990. For the next three months the three couples prayerfully sought a place to meet. During those three months, they alternated meeting in homes. They were denied permission to meet in the schools; the community hall was occupied; possibilities of various rental properties fell through or were too expensive. During those three months, the foundation of prayer at the Faith Baptist Church was laid, as they immediately began to see the Lord answer one prayer after another.
The first public service of Faith Baptist Church was conducted on Easter Sunday, April 15, 1990, in Suite 103 of the Kristiansand Business Park. Thirty people attended, including many relatives for moral support. On October 7, 1990, Faith Baptist Church officially organized with its chartering service. Michael R. Privett was officially called to be the pastor of the Faith Baptist Church of Williamsburg, VA.
1991 was a year of many testings and trials, which the Lord used to purify and mature the small group. Highlights of the first year included the organization of the youth group, the men's ministry, the first Evangelistic services, and a Family Enrichment Conference. In addition, the church voted to take on the regular monthly support of our first missionaries, as well as to set aside funds for a larger and more permanent church building. One major landmark of the first year was the development and explanation of the church's philosophy of ministry. The purpose of Faith Baptist Church is to glorify God through the Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 3:20-21) by balancing dynamic evangelism (Matthew 28:18-20), Biblical instruction (Acts 2:42), loving fellowship (Acts 2:42), God-centered worship (Acts 2:42), fervent prayer (Acts 2:42), and the practical equipping of believers for service (Ephesians 4:11-16).
1992 was a “year of growth”. Attendance increased notably in both Sunday School and the regular services. As a result, it became necessary to increase the size of the auditorium by removing a wall. The church held its first baptismal service on October 6. The outreach of the ministry of Faith Baptist Church expanded as well. We began to support the Sehesteds while locally, we instituted a weekly Saturday chapel service at Chambrel, a retirement community.
1993 was a year of additions. While the Lord added to the numbers, the church added several new ministries such as a youth choir. Also, we added the Pikes, Fuellers, and Utters to our missions family.
1994 was a year of testing. We began to actively pursue the purchase of land and were tied up for nearly a full year believing a real estate deal had been worked out. However, it fell through, and many people became discouraged. Psalm 37 was an important passage during this time, especially verse 23: "The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way." We thank God for that test because it reminded us that God is still on the throne! Nathan and Diane Fray were added to our missionary family as well. In January, due to the fact that it was not practically or legally possible to seat at one time all that attended the morning services, we began to hold two morning services.
1995 was a year of challenges and victories. Though space was limited in the two office condominiums, and attendance leveled off during this time, a children’s church service was introduced into the Sunday morning ministry. The church also voted to include Randy and Amy Boardman into the missionary family.
1996 saw the broadening of our ministry. The Lord moved us into bigger facilities as we relocated within the Kristiansand Business Park, subleasing a daycare center. We held our first weeklong revival meetings. We also added Walter & Carol Loescher to our missionary family. In September, we began our Patch the Pirate Club for children in grades 2-6.
1997 was marked by some exciting news, including the cash purchase of seven acres of undeveloped land on Rochambeau Drive. The years of delay enabled us to purchase the land without borrowing any money. As Faith Baptist Church discussed and prayed concerning master plans, building plans, and site plans, we continued to see numerical and spiritual growth, despite the need to use closed-circuit television in an adjacent room. On the first Sunday in June, we moved into new temporary facilities in the Toano Middle School as we planned and erected our first building for the glory of God.
1998 was a year of building. On February 15 we broke ground to begin construction on our first church building. James McReynolds, one of our members and a highly reputable general contractor, built the 7,800 square foot building. We held our first service in the new building on July 26, 1998. Praise the Lord! We also launched a professional, Christ-honoring web site for the church.
1999 was a year of expansion. We expanded our missions program by beginning to support two church planting mission agencies--Armed Forces Baptist Missions & Baptist Home Missions--as well as the Stan Shelton family. In addition, we expanded our community outreach by producing an informational and evangelistic monthly newsletter called Focus on Faith and beginning our AWANA Clubs ministry. Lastly, we expanded our future ministry potential by purchasing the fifteen acres adjoining our land, which gave us over 22 acres of land to use for His glory.
2000 was a year of firsts. We held our first Christmas Eve service, which attracted a large number of people from our community. We hosted our first mission agency family week as Baptist Home Missions met here for their bi-annual conference.
2001 was a year of additions. We hired Joe Fraga as our first Office Administrator to free up Pastor Mike for ministry opportunities. The church raised enough money to purchase a grand piano to add to our excellent, growing music ministry. Also, we added an Adult Singles ministry and College of William & Mary outreach to work with this growing group in our church family.
2002 was a year of changes. We made the change in our leadership to line up more with the Biblical teaching of elders and deacons. We added the Lonny Schmid family to our church’s missionaries. Lastly, we sponsored our first Missions Trip as we ministered with Matthew Recker in New York City recognizing the one-year anniversary of 9/11.
2003 was another year of expansion. Due to growing attendance and membership, we actively began planning, designing, and raising the funds for our new Activities Building. Our music ministry expanded by beginning our hand chime ministry. Our mission ministry began to support the Orville Blake family. In addition, we expanded our Men’s and Women’s ministries by conducting monthly divided Bible studies on Wednesday evenings.
2004 was a year of growth. We held our first Faith Promise Missions Conference. We also began to support the Wilds Christian Camp and Rapidan Baptist Camp. Our second Missions trip traveled to South Florida to assist the church planting endeavors of the Orville Blakes. Back home, we broke ground on June 20, 2004 for our new 14,000 square foot Activities Building.
2005 was a year of building. We officially organized our Shepherding Ministry in which various members volunteer to minister to and edify a small group of families in their local area. We added John Hutcheson and FrontLine Missions as well as the Tim Melton family to our missions family. We were also busy with the construction of our Activities Building. In addition to the hundreds of volunteer hours by our men, women, and teens, a local church in Pennsylvania sent eight of their men for a week-long mission trip to assist our people in erecting the steel super structure of our Activities Building. We also hosted our first Couples' Advance along with ChristLife Ministries.
2006 was another year of firsts. We offered our first church-sponsored trip to the Holy Land, provided our first Good Friday service to help us focus on what Christ did for us on the cross, and took our first international missions trip as we traveled to Brazil to help the Frays in their ministry. In addition, two new families were added to our missionary family: The Tony Fox and the Kontantin Kamilchu families.
2007 was a year of changes. We hired our summer intern, Robert Worsham, to serve as our second Office Administrator. Our teen mission team assisted the Randy Boardman family in Milton, Vermont. We added the Matthew Recker family to our missions family. Lastly, we held our first formal homeschoolers’ graduation with six graduates and consequently, reorganized our College & Career ministry.
2008 was a year of construction. We completed our Activities Building with lots of construction going on every day; however, we were still working on the completion of our parking lot. We took our largest group on a mission trip as we served in Sao Paulo, Brazil with the Frays. We added the Stalnaker family to our missions family. In addition, we began to reach out to our local public school as our church sponsored and coordinated a Good News Club.
2009 ended up being a year of blessings. We received our certificate of occupancy for our 14,000 square foot Activities Building in the Spring and began to use it immediately for our AWANA ministry, teen and adult Bible studies, and various activities. We had our official Dedication Service in October in which we recognized James McReynolds, our general contractor, some of the men from the church in Pennsylvania, a representation of the subcontractors, and the many FBC volunteers who helped in someway or the other during the construction process. We added to our church staff as Bill Dubberly became our church’s first custodian/groundskeeper/maintenance man, Joe Fraga returned as our Office Administrator, and Robert Worsham started to serve as our Assistant Pastor. Robert Worsham also became our first young man ordained to the Gospel ministry by FBC. We took our missions trip to New York City to assist the Reckers with their outreach of giving out the glorious Gospel of Christ. We also added the Michael Carlyle family, missionaries to Cambodia, as well as Christian Way Ministries to our church’s missionary family.
We praise and thank the Lord for His continued blessings upon our church. And we pray that the Lord would continue to bless us spiritually, numerically, and financially over this next year for the glory of Jesus Christ our Savior!