In the autumn of 1940 the Norfolk Baptist Council
purchased a field in a sparsely settled residential section called Talbot Park.
The site was located at Sinclair Street, one-half block off Granby Street. The
Reverend Scott C. Hutton was sent to the Talbot Park community by the Baptist
State Mission Board of Virginia in early 1943. Finally, on May 23, 1943, an
organizational meeting was held at Granby High School. Attendance at this
meeting was composed of 96 people from the surrounding community. It was at this
meeting that Talbot Park Baptist Church was born. The Church met every Sunday at
Granby High School, and soon plans were being formulated to erect a church
building.
Our country was at war in 1943, and any new building was extremely limited due
to a shortage of materials. Nevertheless, this small group of enthusiastic
Christians could not be discouraged. Acting on faith and armed with hope and
love, two representatives were sent to acquire from Congress the priority to
build a Church. The priority was granted, the money was borrowed, and the
contract was given to begin construction. Many area Baptist churches made
financial gifts toward the building fund. The first spade of ground was turned
on October 10, 1943, and our church building was completed in July, 1944. Today,
after several building programs, the Church owns the square block bordered by
Granby and Sinclair Streets, and Brackenridge and Colonial Avenues.
Our first pastor, Reverend John A. Wilcox, served our church from October, 1943,
until his resignation in November, 1946. In October of the following year Dr.
Fred T. Laughon, Jr. became the pastor and ministered to the congregation until
mid-1954, with a great emphasis on the youth of our Church and our community.
Dr. Ernest L. Honts was pastor from February 1955, until his resignation on
March 5, 1971, to become Executive Director of Virginia Baptist Foundation in
Richmond. Those years were marked by major emphasis on church administration and
organization. Dr. Eslie R. Phillips was pastor from November, 1972, until July
31, 1986, when he left for the foreign mission field in Bogota, Colombia, South
America. Dr. Harry T. Dixon, Jr. began his ministry with Talbot Park Baptist
Church on October 18, 1987, coming to us from Rivermont Avenue Baptist Church in
Lynchburg, Virginia. On March 30, 2003 he retired after spending over fifteen
years as our senior pastor. Dr. & Mrs. Dixon continue to make their home in
Virginia Beach and are members of our congregation. Dr. Tom Miller became
interim pastor on Aug. 1, 2003.
In 1962 the Church began a mission in Aragona Village, and from that mission the
Aragona Baptist Church (later re-named Calvary Baptist Church) was organized in
1964. In 1969 we paid $6,000 to that congregation for the purpose of purchasing
land for a proposed church building. In 1970 the new church building was
dedicated.
During the years, the Church has sponsored a family from Latvia, two families
from Cuba, and a family from Vietnam. A highlight of our early ministry to the
community was the annual presentation of "The Living Nativity", an outdoor
Christmas pageant. "The Easter Story", an outdoor living tableaux, was viewed by
an estimated 100,000 persons during the week prior to Easter for several years.
The "Living Nativity" was resumed in 1993 through the leadership of our Young
Adult Sunday School Department.
During 1993, the church celebrated its 50th anniversary at which we enjoyed a
reunion with many of our former pastors and members. The celebration included a
special worship service and dinner on the grounds. Since 1984 the church has
offered a Weekday Preschool Program to children ages two through pre-K.
Currently we have 85 children enrolled. The Preschool program was begun by Mrs.
Sue Rigau, and, since June 1997, has been under the direction of Mrs. Dana
Costas who also serves as church secretary/ bookkeeper. For the past thirteen
years the church has participated in the local "N.E.S.T." program for the
homeless. In the Spring of 1995 we launched our involvement in Habitat For
Humanity renovating a home in Park Place. The renovations were completed in the
Spring of 1996 and dedicated on October 20, 1996. In the Spring of 1999 a second
habitat project involving new construction, and in cooperation with ten other
churches, was successfully completed. These activities have stemmed from the
church's felt need to be involved in more hands-on local ministries. The church
is a strong supporter of national and world missions through the Cooperative
Program of the Baptist General Association of Virginia, the Southern Baptist
Convention and the work of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, the Norfolk
Baptist Association and the Baptist World Alliance. We are frequently involved
in direct and ecumenical ministries.
In recent years the church has renovated several key areas of our building
including our nursery, our Social Hall, kitchen, parts of our youth area, and
our older preschool areas. In addition, in the Spring of 1996 our aging
mechanical equipment was replaced, providing us with heat and air conditioning
resources to take us into a new century.
For some months in the year 2000, a church
appointed group had been working with architects and contractors to prepare for
a much needed renovation of our sanctuary. Work began in the late Summer of 2000
and continued through the Fall. The platform of the pulpit area was extended and
stairs down to the floor were added across the entire front. Significant new
lighting was added in the ceiling for worship and drama purposes. The entire
sanctuary was painted and carpeted throughout with burgundy carpet. Brass
sconces were added to the walls. The pews were realigned with wider
spacing and the two outer rows slanted toward the center. A new pulpit was built
by one of the church’s gifted members, and the pulpit chairs upholstered in a
rich brocade by another talented church member. The result is a sanctuary of
striking beauty and one which lends itself wonderfully to the worship of God.
In addition to our renovated sanctuary, two additional enhancements to our
building were completed. Construction on our elevator began in 2001 and was
completed in the Spring of 2002. Given in memory of one of our much loved church
members by her family, the elevator was dedicated in a special service in
November, 2002. Located in the educational building facing Granby Street, the
elevator has proved invaluable by opening up our entire building to uses by all
of our congregation regardless of age or handicap.
The church parlor was completely refurbished with new paint, carpet, drapes and
reupholstered furniture. The result is a beautifully appointed area for small
groups, families and brides to use on special occasions. The parlor was
refurbished through several memorial gifts honoring loved ones in the life of
our congregation.
In 2005, the church is engaged in major capital improvements including
replacement of “built-up” roofs and replacement of all windows in the church.
Several mechanical systems will be upgraded or replaced. Total cost of these
physical enhancements will be approximately $350,000.
We are grateful to the Lord for leading us to two new staff members in 2002.
Rev. Heidi Oberdick became our Minister of Music in May and Rev. Rob Edwards
came to us as Minister of Missions and Youth in August. The Lord used these two
gifted ministers in wonderful ways. In 2004 Rev. Edwards resigned and became
pastor of Cradock Baptist Church in Portsmouth.
Our pastor’s secretary/office manager is Mrs. Barbara Jackson. She began her
service in June 1996.
Jesse Monk is our custodian, and came to us in January 1986.
In the Fall of 2001, a fifteen member committee began a year long task of
preparing a Strategic Plan to guide the life of the church for several years.
The group met regularly and presented an interim report in April of 2002. The
most exciting finding of the committee was the discovery of how God has been and
is continuing to work in the life of the congregation in unsuspected ways. The
completed Strategic Plan was presented to the congregation in October, 2002 with
a number of recommendations for ministries. With leadership already stepping
forward to put them into action, the church launched special ministries for
seniors; for military families and singles; for women of the church; for men of
the church; and for discipleship studies. Children’s ministries and youth
ministries are under direction of capable volunteers,
There is a strong wind of the Holy Spirit blowing through our congregation as
numbers of our people, young and old, are participating in discipling classes
and growing spiritually. A strong sense of service to each other and to our
community is prevalent among us, and we can only rejoice and praise the Lord.