“I was in the youth group from sixth grade until I graduated high school. Throughout that time we had three different youth leaders that were hired. But, we had many youth leaders in total. When we had a lapse of youth leadership, other church members always stepped up. We never felt forgotten no matter how small the youth was at the time. They were all a positive influence in my life. I will always remember and be so very grateful for that” – Laura Tolbert
“In January 1954 I moved from Earl. NC to a house behind Pleasant Hill Church. I had attended New Hope Baptist in Earl. Pleasant Hill was just a hop, skip and jump from my new home, so I started attending there. I was thirteen years old.
We were farmers. One day out in the field, hoeing cotton, I was thinking that one day I would ask Jesus to come into my heart. Then the thought came to me, “Why not do that now”? So I did. In those days we had Sunday Morning, Sunday Night and Wednesday Night Services. At the Wednesday Night Service I made my decision public and asked to be baptized.The baptismal pool was a cement rectangle, ground level with steps down one end. Baptisms were held in warm weather of course and after Worship Service as there were no restrooms at Pleasant Hill at that time, so it was more practical to have baptism last.
I have fond memories of playing in the baptismal pool in Autumn and Winter when dry leaves fell in and it was fun to run up and down the steps! There have been many wonderful changes to our Church over the years to make Worship, fellowship and all the activities more convenient and comfortable. Pleasant Hill has been my home Church since 1954 and I felt right at home that very first day!” – Ruby Barrett
“Pleasant Hill has been my home since I was born. My most favorite childhood memories are of activities and friendships from church. I left Pleasant Hill for a while, but returned in 2014 and it was like I never left. I love my Pleasant Hill family and I am very blessed to be part of such an amazing church. My kids and I are happy and growing in our love of the Lord each day. There’s no other place we’d rather be.” – Jessica Dover
“When I married Tommy, I became a member of Pleasant Hill, and they took me in and loved me like I had been there forever. I treasure memories of some wonderful ladies who are no longer with us but who taught me so much without even knowing it. Mrs. Virginia Adams and Mrs. Lib Dillingham on either side of me in the choir, and Mrs. Ruth Rollins was a teacher of my children in Sunday School. She loved them and then she showed love to my little grandchildren in the church nursery until she passed away in 2015. But thirty-four years ago, on our son Josh’s 5th birthday, I found out I had breast cancer. I was 30 years old with 2 young children, and the news that day just rocked our world. That night, as our family was leaving Josh’s birthday party, Paw Paw Mike Lowery placed both of his hands on my shoulders, hugged me, and then looked me straight in the eyes and said “You’re going to be fine. Pleasant Hill is a praying church”. From then until now, I have no doubt but that my friends at PHBC have prayed on my behalf many times. Years later, as my mother was losing a long battle with lymphoma, my PH friend Becky Bumgardner, sent me a recording of the song, “Somebody’s Prayin” by Ricky Skaggs. The song exemplifies the people of PHBC. What a blessing!” – Amanda Lowery
“Years ago Cathy and I were searching for a church in this area. Over the course of a few months, we had visited 3 or 4 churches several times, but we still did not feel like we had found a church home. Pleasant Hill was having a Spring Revival and Gwen Lowery came by to tell us about it. We visited PHBC the first night of the revival and we were extremely happy when we left that night. We knew that we had found the Church we needed to be a part of. Everyone was so friendly. We attended the revival the rest of the week and left each night with joy in our hearts. Needless to say, we attended the service that Sunday morning, and it was homecoming. We were invited to stay for lunch, which was another huge plus for me. Man those ladies can cook!
The following week Cathy and I joined the church. Shortly thereafter, we were teaching a middle school Sunday school class. We have a lot of good memories working with all of the kids in the youth group. Hopefully, they have a few too. We saw all four of our boys accept Christ and then follow in Baptism at PHBC. It is truly a blessing seeing a lot of these “young people” who are now married with children of their own still following the Lord.
I do have to include this. One of the best things we did at PHBC was join the choir, because it was here that we met a couple who were to become our best friends, Tommy and Amanda Lowery. We love everyone at PHBC, but Tommy and Amanda will always have a special place in our heart. We’ve been through a lot just doing life together these past 25 years!
After being absent a few years at another church, we came back to PHBC, and joined the church again. We were met with loving arms by everyone. There are a lot of precious memories I will carry all the way Glory. We love all of our Church family.” – Pete and Cathy Newton
“I came to Pleasant Hill in 1971 after my husband (Don) and I got married (this was the church he grew up in). I felt a warm welcome from the beginning. I made dear friends then who have remained so to this day.
Don had a severe stroke in August of 2013. He was in a rest home until he passed away in February of 2014. I sat with him 6-8 hours every day. I could not have made it through that time without the prayers, support, visits, calls, and cards from this wonderful church family. Several friends of his from his Sunday School class made out a schedule and sat with him on days when I needed to be away running errands and taking care of business. You never forget people like that, wonderful friends who are God’s angels when you need them.” – Carolyn Dillingham
“I have been a member of Pleasant Hill for 48 years, since my baptism in 1968. I have many fond memories including my marriage and the baptism of my two children. I remember good times like VBS and all the fun we had. Our VBS teachers are the greatest, and so are our Sunday School teachers. There are many opportunities here for children to learn and grow. Our goal is to be a light in this community through witnessing and showing love and compassion to those in need. We strive (with God’s help) to be the best that we can be.” – Marie Free
“My family and I have been members of Pleasant Hill for a little over a year and attended for a year before that. We were first introduced to Pleasant Hill when our daughters were invited to Vacation Bible School, and after them coming for several summers the whole family was invited for worship. Before we joined I noticed several things about the congregation: even though many of them are related in some way, they still go out of their way to speak to and welcome visitors. When people in this church ask how you are, they WAIT for a response. They aren’t worried about whether you’re wearing jeans or Prada, and no one parades their Prada in front of you. Even though there are strong family roots there isn’t one matriarch with all the money who runs things.
All three of my kids (15, 12, and 12) LOVE the children/youth program, and I even got back into Sunday School (something I had avoided since High School), and it is one of the parts of the week I most look forward to. I look forward to worship each week. I truly enjoy the sermons. They are interesting and appeal to more than one age group, socio-economic group, and different interests. They are more like conversations. For the first time in a long time, I am learning new things about Christ.
My children and I were baptized (immersion) when we joined, and that was when I realized PHBC was home. Everyone involved could NOT have been more courteous, helpful, witty, and loving for our baptism. The water was almost hot (perfect!), and we were hugged, blessed, petted, and cried over. We were made to feel like family. I love PHBC, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.” – Amy Allen
Pleasant Hill Baptist Church 