Record indicates that in 1887 the General Conference of the Free Will Baptist Churches appointed Rev. W.H. Slaughter to serve as a missionary and established a church in Eastern North Carolina. The church was established in 1888 with 23 members and was located on the west side of the east prong of Gales Creek. It was named Gales Creek Church. Records of the November 1893 General Conference indicted that this church became a member of the conference in 1893 and that the motion to accept our church was made by Rev. W.R. Sawyer. In 1896 the General Conference divided to form two conferences, and Gales Creek Church became a charter member of the Eastern Conference.
As was the case in most areas, the church building also served as a school during the week and offered a basic education of reading, writing, and arithmetic. Sunday services were simple and dignified. Even though there was no piano or choir, someone in the congregation would begin singing a song and everyone would soon join in. Transportation was poor, so services were not available every Sunday. Some of the earlier members traveled by horse and buggy or by horse and cart. Others walked several miles for the round trip. At the 1897 Conference, the church reported five new members, four baptisms, one death, and one excommunication. The church congregation totaled 35. Early pastor’s of the church were W.H. Slaughter, Warden Lewis, William Lupton, John Sewell and Rev. Avery.
A new church building was constructed in 1920 on Hibbs Road about a quarter of a mile of highway 24. The old building was torn down and the materials were used to help build a school near the new church. On October 25, 1923, the name of the church was changed at the 28th annual session of the eastern Conference to Sound View Free Will Baptist Church. Records of the quarterly church meetings date back to February, 1929 when W.B. Everett was Pastor and Alonza Thomas Garner was clerk. The congregation totaled 45 members.
N.D. Wiggs became Pastor of the church in 1933. At this time, most of the meeting reports pertained to the appointment of the delegates to the union meetings and the appointment of committees to write letters encouraging delinquent members to attend church. Luke Wetherington became pastor in 1934, Denard B. Garner in 1938, W.E. Anderson in 1940, C.J. Griffinn in 1941.
In 1943, David Hansley was elected Pastor, and at this time it was decided the church was too far from Highway 24. Therefore, on Thanksgiving Day in 1943, the building was moved on rollers by the men of the church to its present location, 1734 Highway 24, Newport, NC. The woman of the church prepared a picnic lunch for all the movers that day.
Bruce Barrow became Pastor in 1945, followed by Roy Miller in 1946, Carol Hansley in 1947, and Russell Millard in 1949. Carol Hansley became Pastor again in 1952. It was at this time that the first record of church deacons appeared on the ledger. The Deacons were Henry Goodwin, Randolph Garner, Ken Miller, Joe Barnes, and Willie Page.
In February 1953, Elmer Garner resigned as clerk after having served in this position from 1920 to 1953, for a total of 23 years. Wayne West was elected to fill this position. At the June 22, 1955, quarterly meeting, the building committee reported that it had decided to start repairing and enlarging the church.
In 1956, Lemmie Taylor became pastor, followed by David C. Hansley in 1959, and Andrew Hill in 1960. Irene Covill served as clerk in 1960, followed by Geraldine Lewis in 1961. In 1962 Raymond Hardison became pastor, and Larry Pelliter severed as Clerk. Geraldine Lewis was again elected clerk in 1965 and Clifton Styron was our pastor. In 1969, Jerry Rowe was elected pastor. Geraldine Lewis was again elected clerk in 1970. June Page served as clerk from January 1972 to July 1972, when Francis Deaver was elected clerk.
After the death of Lester Hall in 1972, a memorial fund was established for a church steeple. In 1973, a steeple was placed on the church in memory of Brother Lester. In 1975 Carol Hansley returned to the church as pastor until 1977, when Gurney Chase took that position until September 1980. Sybil Godley was clerk during this time. In 1980, Francis garner pastored church with Nancy Salmon serving as clerk. Nancy died in 1980, and Caroline Gibson accepted the clerk’s position.
On April 7, 1987, A. Graham Lane began Pastoring, with Phyliss Williams as clerk. There were approximately 124 members in the congregation at this time. On January 4, 1989 Gladys Bailey became clerk and in June 1997 Grady Simpson became Pastor.
During his time as pastor, Brother Grady discovered that on June 16,1944 Sound View had leased the property that our old church was located on from the Oglesby family. MS Juanita Silvermann volunteered to approach the Oglesby family about terminating the lease on the property. In 1998 the Oglesby heirs agreed to give the church a deed to the one-acre tract of land that their ancestors had leased us years earlier. In September of 1999, Ms. Katherine Oglesby also gave the church Lot 24, which borders the church on the east side. Also on September 19, 2001, Kathrine also gave Sound View another one-acre tract North of the existing property. Because of the family’s and Kathrine’s generosity and kindness, Sound View had an official Oglesby appreciation day to honor them for helping us further the mission of our church.
On April 17, 2002, the church members voted to erect a new sanctuary. The groundbreaking ceremony was held on July 21, 2002 and Foundation was poured on July 29, 2002. The construction of the building was begun by Tarheel Builders on August 5, 2002. On June 8, 2003, we held our first evening service in our new sanctuary, and on Father’s Day June 15, we had our first Sunday morning service.
In 2010 the membership voted to build a new fellowship hall attached to the back of our new Sanctuary. Construction began in early 2011 and the dedication service was held in October of 2011. This accomplishment of a new Sanctuary and a new fellowship hall was done during the time that Grady Simpson was our pastor. His vision, leadership and perseverance helped Sound View accomplish the building of a new sanctuary and fellowship hall. Brother Grady continued to be our Pastor until December of 2011.
A search for a new Pastor began in February 2012. Ken Turner was voted in during a special called business meeting. He served until August 2012. Pastor James Gurganus took over as the shepherd of the flock in October 2012. He served as our Pastor until December 2013.
While our Deacons were searching for a New Pastor in December and early January, Phyliss and Robert Langley attended one of our services on Sunday and the Deacons found out he was a Free Will Baptist Preacher. They approached him and asked if he would fill in as a guest Pastor the following Sunday. He accepted the invitation to fill in. He filled in for the next 8 years until March of 2022.
In March of 2022, Pastor Grady Simpson returned to be the Shephard of our Flock.
May we pause to reflect the closeness of the early congregations and the pleasure they derived from coming together to worship. Our little church has survived 134 years now. We Are indeed a grateful people today; and Sound View Original Free Will Baptist will always hold a special Place in our hearts.
As we look forward to the next 100 years, may Sound View be a beacon of light in our community, and bring those that are of the world and lost, into the family of God.