About Us

During the summer of 1986, a small group of believers in Christ Jesus met in private homes during the weekday evenings for Bible study, prayer and Christian fellowship. They had a great burden for the spiritually lost of Caldwell County and a desire to be active in spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ as the Lord commanded His disciples to do in Matthew 28: 19-20. After much prayer, this small group of 26 adults, being obedient to the Holy Spirit, stepped out in faith and chartered New Life Baptist Church as a Southern Baptist Church on September 24, 1986. Reverend Chris White was called to be the Pastor of this new work.

Over the four-year period from September 1986 to December 1990, the New Life Baptist Church family would find itself moving to four temporary locations in Caldwell and Burke counties. Although these moves were disruptive to the church growth and often discouraging, the Lord provided the needed resources to continue His work. The first location was a church on Underdown Ave. in Lenoir. Other locations included a former funeral home in Valdese, a discontinued automobile dealership on Hwy. 321N, and a former convenience store on Hibriten Dr. in Lenoir. During this four-year period, the Lord began to shape, mold and mature the church body.

On May 26, 1988, the Lord provided the opportunity to purchase 10 +/- acres of land on the Walt Arney Rd. as a permanent home for NLBC. With limited financial resources and minimal church growth, the church members once again stepped out in faith and purchased the land. The next year proved to be very busy as the church called its second pastor as well as began work on the new property. The tenure for the new pastor proved to be short and a third pastor, Reverend Paul Sizemore, was called to service on December 17, 1989. A Building Committee was formed in April 1990, and the first worship service was held in the new permanent home of New Life Baptist Church on December 16, 1990.

Construction began on Phase II of the building project, adding a shell for the education wing as well as extending the existing sanctuary in 1995. Reverend Philip Garvin was called to the pastorate on June 1, 1999. Fund raising began for the completion of the new additions. On May 1, 2001 Pastor Chad Moore filled the position as the fifth pastor of NLBC. With much enthusiasm by March of 2002, the members of the church body finished the work on the education space. The new sanctuary was finished in April 2002 and seats 425 people. This finalized the second phase of the building

New Life Baptist Church has a vision to see a Family Life Center built as Phase III of the building project. Using this facility for the work of Christ we see it only as a tool for reaching the community with the Good News of the Gospel. Our mission is to win people to Christ and mature the believer for a lifetime of Kingdom growth.