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| Lake Ridge Baptist Church 2005 |
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The idea for a Baptist church in Lake Ridge was originally part of a plan of the Mout Vernon Baptist Association (MVBA), in cooperation with the Baptist General Association and the Southern Baptist Convention. The MVBA, looking for a sponsoring church to furnish leadership for the new church, found a receptive and cooperative spirit in the First Baptist Church of Woodbridge. Several First Baptist families lived in Lake Ridge, and ten families enthusiastically agreed to help establish the new church. In the developer's plan for Lake Ridge, a three-acre parcel of land adjacent to Rockledge Elementary School was set aside for use as a church site. Timely action of the MVBA resulted in the purchase of the land for $30,000.
Before the construction of a building could begin, assembly of a congregation was necessary. Reverend A. Lincoln Smith, who, with his wife, Jewell, had been active in church, civic, and community work in the Washington area for 35 years, accepted the challenge of establishing the new church in Lake Ridge. On September 10, 1972, a group of 29 dedicated people met together at the Rockledge School for the opening day services of the Lake Ridge Baptist Church. The church quickly grew in number and resources and needed its own building.
In the spring of 1974, church members launched a building program to build the first of three units planned for the present location. Financing was obtained and ground breaking took place on November 3, 1974. On July 17, 1975, the Lake Ridge Baptist Church was officially constituted a Southern Baptist Church with a membership of 138 - an increase of 375% in less than two years.
On September 14, 1975, only three years after the first meeting of the small group at the Rockledge School, the members of Lake Ridge Baptist Church worshipped in their new building. The $350,000 structure, intended as a multipurpose building, served as evidence that prayer and faith had succeeded where practicality and doubt would have predicted failure.
Pastor Smith retired from the active ministry on June 1, 1976, having fulfilled his dream of building a church in Lake Ridge. Dr. Ted Fuson was called as pastor of Lake Ridge. Planning led to the financing and construction of the first phase of a new education building, named the Smith Building in honor and memory of A. Lincoln and Jewell Smith. Ground was broken on May 3, 1981, and the building was occupied in August of 1982.
After Dr. Fuson was called to be the pastor of the Culpepper Baptist Church, Dr. Neal Jones served for 14 months as Interim Pastor. Dr. Patterson D. Ellis was called as Lake Ridge's new pastor on May 1, 1997 and served the church for 14 years. The second phase of the Smith building was begun in 1997 and was completed in 1998, which is how the church stands today.
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