Last updated: January 22, 2021
Place
Hilltop Baptist Center
Mark Bollinger
Quick Facts
Location:
Hilltop, WV
Significance:
The Hilltop Baptist Center and West Virginia Baptist State Convention has served traditional African-American churches of West Virginia since 1878.
OPEN TO PUBLIC:
No
The Hilltop Baptist Center and West Virginia Baptist State Convention has served traditional African-American churches of West Virginia since 1878. The convention’s buildings and grounds are at Hilltop, WV in Fayette County. This complex is used throughout the year for meetings, camps, retreats, and administrative work. The staff publishes a quarterly newspaper, Baptist News.
The convention’s story begins with the African Zion Baptist Church at Malden, the ‘‘Mother Church of Negro Baptists’’ in West Virginia, where Booker T. Washington once taught Sunday School. This and other early churches developed the Mt. Olivet Missionary Baptist Association and founded the West Virginia Baptist Association in 1874. Those who helped develop the convention include Washington, I. W. Smith, James Lewis Rice, Daniel Stratton, R. J. Perkins, Nelson Barnett, I. V. Bryant, R.D.W. Meadows, and Byrd Prillerman. There are about 150 individual churches within the Convention.
In the early 1900s, a West Virginia Seminary and College was founded by Rev. R. J. Perkins. It occupied four acres of the present grounds of the Hilltop Baptist Center and Baptist State Convention. Fire destroyed the building in 1908 and after two years the school closed. The Jones brothers of Red Star Coal & Coke Company donated 50 acres to the seminary in 1914. The seminary was again able to open its doors in 1919 and operated until 1926.
In 1953, the convention began to meet at Hilltop during the third week of August, and the tradition continues to the present. The Women’s Missionary and Education Convention and Youth Convention meet at the same time.
Convention President S. A. Abram began redevelopment of the old seminary grounds in 1952 and completed five buildings in ten years. After Executive Secretary Warren S. Lewis led the major updating in 1972, the main building, named for Abram, had a sanctuary, meeting rooms, kitchen and dining hall, offices, and sleeping quarters under one roof. The overall complex was named the Hilltop Baptist Center. It includes a picnic area, swimming pool, and semi-rustic dormitories. The newest addition is the Big Creek-Cook Dormitory, with modern rooms for guest speakers, officers, and church ‘‘messengers’’ or delegates.
The West Virginia Baptist State Convention is affiliated with the National Baptist Convention, USA, and supports its objectives, including foreign and home missions.
The convention’s story begins with the African Zion Baptist Church at Malden, the ‘‘Mother Church of Negro Baptists’’ in West Virginia, where Booker T. Washington once taught Sunday School. This and other early churches developed the Mt. Olivet Missionary Baptist Association and founded the West Virginia Baptist Association in 1874. Those who helped develop the convention include Washington, I. W. Smith, James Lewis Rice, Daniel Stratton, R. J. Perkins, Nelson Barnett, I. V. Bryant, R.D.W. Meadows, and Byrd Prillerman. There are about 150 individual churches within the Convention.
In the early 1900s, a West Virginia Seminary and College was founded by Rev. R. J. Perkins. It occupied four acres of the present grounds of the Hilltop Baptist Center and Baptist State Convention. Fire destroyed the building in 1908 and after two years the school closed. The Jones brothers of Red Star Coal & Coke Company donated 50 acres to the seminary in 1914. The seminary was again able to open its doors in 1919 and operated until 1926.
In 1953, the convention began to meet at Hilltop during the third week of August, and the tradition continues to the present. The Women’s Missionary and Education Convention and Youth Convention meet at the same time.
Convention President S. A. Abram began redevelopment of the old seminary grounds in 1952 and completed five buildings in ten years. After Executive Secretary Warren S. Lewis led the major updating in 1972, the main building, named for Abram, had a sanctuary, meeting rooms, kitchen and dining hall, offices, and sleeping quarters under one roof. The overall complex was named the Hilltop Baptist Center. It includes a picnic area, swimming pool, and semi-rustic dormitories. The newest addition is the Big Creek-Cook Dormitory, with modern rooms for guest speakers, officers, and church ‘‘messengers’’ or delegates.
The West Virginia Baptist State Convention is affiliated with the National Baptist Convention, USA, and supports its objectives, including foreign and home missions.