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Kinza had its beginning in a brush arbor on September 12, 1943. Some people in the community had begun having Sunday School and prayer meetings in their homes. Preaching services were sometimes held under a brush arbor located very near to where our present facilities are standing.
The formal organization of Kinza was begun January 2, 1944 and finalized on March 26, 1944. We were received into Stanly Baptist Association at its annual session in the fall of 1944.
Since some of our early records were lost, we do not have a completely accurate listing of our charter members. However, reported first members included: Mr. Floyd Morgan, Mrs. Pearl Morgan, Mrs. Evelyn Love, Mr. Homer Talley, Mrs. Mildred Talley, Mr. Poney Yow, Mrs. Emmer Yow, Mrs. Lora Yow, Mr. Paul Talley, Mrs. Ginny Talley, Mr. Clyde Morgan and Mrs. Emma Morgan.
The property where our present Church facilities stand was given to the Church by Mr. and Mrs. Floyd E. Morgan in memory of their daughter, Kinza. The property for the first Church cemetery was given by Mr. and Mrs. R.V.P Rinehardt. Construction of our Church building was begun in 1944. Church members and people in and outside the community contributed monies, materials, and much hard labor toward its completion. Further additions have been made over the years that include our first educational facility in 1961 followed by additional educational space in 2002-2004. Other buildings constructed to aid in our Church ministry include our parsonage in 1957, our fellowship building in 1971-1972, and renovation of our original educational facilities in 2008-2009.
Some highlights of our ministry include:
1949 - Our largest baptism with 69 candidates was conducted by Rev. John H. Connell.
1959 - Yvonne Greene (Crump) and Lucille Deese went to California as short term missionaries.
1967 - Rev. Gene L. Hopkins was licensed to the gospel ministry and was ordained in 1971.
1971 - Rev. Roy Lee Barbee was licensed to the gospel ministry and ordained in 1972.
Late 1970s – Dianne Smith began working in Childhood Ministries in Tennessee, then Georgia, and was later called to serve the Virginia Baptist Convention on its Childhood Resources Council.
1982 - Rev. Larry Petrea was ordained to the gospel ministry.
2000 - We began participating in Operation Christmas Child Shoe Box Ministry. We continue to participate today.
2008 - Mr. Joseph H. Drake was licensed to the gospel ministry.
2016 - We began sponsoring church members for the Baptist Children’s Homes Ride to Clyde fundraiser. We continue to sponsor every year.
2019 - We began participating in the Appalachian Backpack Ministry. We continue to participate today.
2022 - We organized our first Back to School Bash.
The mission of Kinza Memorial Baptist Church is to reach and introduce people to a loving Christ through Worship, Fellowship and Bible Study—to bring them into a saving relationship with Christ so they can become mature followers of Christ.
Having been led, as we believe by the Spirit of God, to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour and, on the profession of our faith, having been baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, we do now, in the presence of God, and this assembly, most solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with one another as one body in Christ.
We engage, therefore, by the aid of the Holy Spirit to walk together in Christian love; to strive for the advancement of this church, in knowledge, holiness, and comfort; to promote its prosperity and spirituality; to sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline, and doctrines; to contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry, the expenses of the church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the gospel through all nations.
We also engage to maintain family and secret devotions; to religiously educate our children; to seek the salvation of our kindred and acquaintances; to walk circumspectly in the world; to be just in our dealings; faithful in our engagements, and exemplary in our deportment; to avoid all tattling, back-biting, and excessive anger; to abstain from the sale of, and use of, destructive drugs or intoxicating drinks as a beverage; to shun pornography; to be zealous in our efforts to advance the Kingdom of our Savior.
We further engage to watch over one another in brotherly love; to remember one another in prayer; to aid one another in sickness and distress; to cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling and Christian courtesy in speech; to be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation and mindful of the rules of our Savior to secure it without delay.
We moreover engage that when we remove from this place we will, as soon as possible, unite with some other church where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant and the principles of God’s Word.