Originally called Shoulder's Hill Baptist Church, Churchland Baptist Church was founded on June 3, 1785. Located midway between Suffolk and Portsmouth on land owned by a Mr. Shoulder, the church began as a mission of the independent Western Branch Church. The missionary zeal and dedicated preaching of David Barrow and Edward Mintz, the church's first leaders, generated great support; and their ever-growing group of followers banded together to establish a congregation defiant of past religious persecution and supported by the 1778 enactment of the Virginia Statutes of Religious Freedom. Mintz became the first pastor, and the church at Shoulder's Hill soon became an independent body, marking the formal establishment of Churchland Baptist Church as we know it today. 

Several different ministers - all of whom preached only part-time, and many of whom were disciplined and even dismissed - guided the church through its troubled first years. By 1822, the church had reached its lowest point, and its future, for a time, seemed uncertain. The arrival of Rev. David M. Woodson in 1823, however, began a period of growth and harmony for the church. The membership, which had fluctuated earlier, began to stabilize during the late 1820s. The next four decades brought to the church continuous development and maturity. Joseph H. Fox, William Young, and Reuben Jones became the first to serve as full-time ministers, and the latter, during his 30 years as pastor - four of which came during the American Civil War - offered the church prominent leadership and, with great faithfulness, encouraged growth and prosperity. 

To more adequately accommodate such growth and to meet the needs of its members, the church in 1829 erected a second sanctuary. Built on land donated by Col. William Wright, it stood where the present church now stands, near Sycamore Hill in what was then Norfolk County. The congregation met alternately at either church until the end of the Civil War, when it sold Shoulder's Hill to a black congregation and built a larger structure at Sycamore Hill. The congregation that met at this church officially became Churchland Baptist in 1890 and in 1911 erected the gothic structure that remained on this site until 1978. Portsmouth's post-World War II expansion toward Churchland brought new opportunities for service and growth, and in the early 1950s the church began to expand its educational facilities. The present sanctuary, construction of which began in December 1961, was dedicated in May 1963; and just recently, in the fall of 1993, the church completed both new and remodeled structures to house its children's wing and social hall.

Throughout its long history, lay leadership has contributed decidedly to the prosperity of Churchland Baptist. Although its pastoral bonds were a bit weak until the return of Dr. Jones in 1855, the history of the church in the mid-1800s was guided by a group of devoted lay leaders who were prominent citizens and successful farmers in the Churchland community. Men such as John T. Bidgood, Richard Carney, Willis D. Bidgood, Joseph Wright, Richard Deans, Joseph Deans, James H. Carney, and Rice H. Carney brought to the church a spirit of strength, permanence, and prosperity, giving birth to a feeling of unity that endures to this day. They and others like them have established the quality of leadership that allows Churchland Baptist Church to grow and to extend to its members and the surrounding community a high standard of Christian service.

Since 1855, the church has had only six ministers: A. B. Dunaway, William Vann Savage, Robert E. F. Aler, John L. Moran, R. Lee Carter, and the present pastor, R. Clint Hopkins. Many call the congregation's years with Savage its "Golden Age," for between 1897 and 1931 the church fulfilled its mission locally and throughout the state as never before. During the past sixty years, the church has experienced a consequent "Era of Opportunities" under the leadership of Aler, Moran, Carter, and Hopkins. Since 1959, the church's development has flourished not only under fine pastors but also under a number of associates in youth and educational ministries who have greatly enhanced the variety of programs that has invigorated the spiritual life and work of Churchland Baptist Church. During our bicentennial year, 1985, Mr. Carter presented a "Bicentennial Minute" during every Sunday service and thus aided and renewed the interest of our congregation in its look back on our church's first two centuries. On June 2 of that year, the church formally celebrated its 200th birthday with a service highlighted by Mr. Carter's Bicentennial Litany, a work that praised God for and commemorated the individuals who have graced our church's history. Also on that occasion, Dr. Terry L. Jones, church historian and current vice chairman of deacons, presented the results of his own research, "Churchland Baptist Church: The Early Years, 1785-1850." 

What Dr. Moran said at the 1963 dedication of the current sanctuary is as true today as it was then: "In the light of the great traditions of the congregation and the present opportunities of service afforded with the growth of our community, it seems that again and again the prophetic text of the 150th Anniversary service in 1929 will be fulfilled: The glory of the latter house shall be greater than the former."

Excerpted and condensed from the following:
Jones, Terry L. "Churchland Baptist Church: The Early Years, 1785-1850.” 1985.
Lawrence, Julian S. "Historical Review of Churchland Baptist Church." 1935.
​Moran, John L. "A Brief History of Churchland Baptist Church." 1963.