Wake Forest Baptist Church (Forsyth County, N.C.) Records

MS806

The Wake Forest Baptist Church was established in 1956 following Wake Forest College's move to Winston-Salem, N.C. This collection contains minutes, sermons and hymns, correspondence, church records and documents, photographs, clippings, meeting materials, budgets, newsletters, bulletins as well as publications from the Wake Forest Baptist Church.

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Biographical and Historical Note

Wake Forest Baptist Church (WFBC) was constituted in 1956 after Wake Forest College's move from Wake Forest to Winston-Salem, N.C. WFBC has been progressive both in the redress of racism and homophobia in the community. Throughout WFBC's history, especially under Richard Groves' pastorship, membership and leadership positions had been open to members regardless of race and orientation. In 1994, they were instrumental in community outreach after racially-charged church burnings and in 1999, they fought public backlash for hosting a same-sex civil union. This dissent lead to conflict surrounding WFBC's sovereignty, as WFU's Board of Trustees disagreed with the service, which would lead to WFBC's full autonomy.

In August 2022, the church's members voted to dissolve due to a declining and aging membership, limited financial resources, and a new rental policy from WFU. The final service, a celebration of life, was held on November 5, 2022, in Wait Chapel.

Sources: Ford, David. "Wake Forest Baptist Church votes to dissolve." WFDD, 2022 August 8. Available at https://www.wfdd.org/story/wake-forest-baptist-church-votes-dissolve

Collection Overview

This collection documents the work of Wake Forest Baptist Church's leadership. Materials include minutes, sermons and hymns, correspondence, church records and documents, photographs, clippings, meeting materials, budgets, newsletters, bulletins as well as publications from the Wake Forest Baptist Church.

Administrative Information

Publication Information
Reprocessed by Weihua Wang, Juno Zhu, and Stephanie Bennett, 2017 May
Revision Description
Revised by Katie Lawrence; Olivia Field, Immanuel Eggers, Stephanie Bennett; Stephanie Bennett, 2018, 2019, 2023
Access Restrictions
This collection is open for use. 
Copyright Notice
The nature of the WFU Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The Archives and Special Collections of ZSR Library claims only physical ownership of most materials. The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to the U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source. 
Preferred Citation
Wake Forest Baptist Church (Forsyth County, N.C.) Records (MS806), Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA. 

Collection Inventory

  • Board and committee materials
  • Correspondence
  • Member records and materials
  • Subject files
  • WFDD and same-sex union controversy materials
  • Worship and sermon materials