History of Salisbury Baptist
The exact date that Salisbury Baptist Temple was born is unknown. Although, we don’t know a date, we trust this writing will be helpful in telling some of the events that led up to its birth.
Oren Perdue, a native of the Salisbury area, began a career of farming as a 4-H club boy. He, along with his brother Francis, formed a partnership and worked together side by side for fifteen years. Both were very active in their local church. During that time God began dealing with Oren about becoming even more active in God’s service. Feeling the need to get more Bible training, he started taking some correspondence courses.
The busy life and long hours on the farm left little time for study. Eventually he saw that if he was to do God’s bidding it would be necessary to leave the farm and go off to Bible College.
In 1971 at the age of 35 he and his wife Ruth and their seven children loaded their earthly belongings on a U-Haul truck and moved to Springfield, Missouri. There they enrolled in the Baptist Bible College, Oren in
the Pastor’s course and Ruth in the Christian Education course
During their second year they were told there was a small church in Ash Grove, Missouri (about 20 miles from the college) that needed a pastor. Oren candidated there with only six people and his family in attendance. The church, the Bible Baptist Church, called him to be their pastor.
He preached on Sunday and visited in the community when possible. The church building needed some repairs, so he spent some of the time doing that. He was still working full-time at the college.
People in the community did not accept Oren quickly. They saw him as a foreigner. They said, “You talk funny. Are you from Canada?” The Eastern Shore brogue was just part of him. The ministry was off to a slow start.
When Oren and Ruth graduated from college, they sought God’s will as to what they should do. They decided in order to get the church growing it was going to be necessary to move to Ash Grove and become one of them. After a desperate search for a house, they moved and tried to be citizens of Ash Grove. It was a big decision. One of the biggest was to remove their children from the Christian school in Springfield and enroll them in the public school in Ash Grove.
They eventually did enroll them at Ash Grove. Oren said when he walked away from that school leaving the children in the school office, he cried big tears. Had he made a mistake? Was he sacrificing his children in order to get the church going? If so, it was too late. They were now enrolled in their new school.
Ash Grove was a small-town of 1000 people and the school was not exactly what he preferred, but it was not bad at all. The children soon made friends at school. Their friends were welcomed to the Perdue home and
in turn Oren and Ruth were welcomed to their friends’ homes. This opened a lot of doors for them. Ash Grove is in the Ozarks, a hilly and rocky country. Cattle, pastures, and hay were the main farming practices
The Perdues bought an old hay truck, and the community soon became aware that the Perdue family at Bible Baptist Church had a hay hauling crew. They soon made friends by hauling their hay. This was all a means to an end.
Oren believed in “servant leadership”. Mark 10:44 & 45 And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
The hay hauling did generate some income, but the big plus was that an appreciation for the new preacher’s family became apparent. For example, Mr. Gene Buckner was an insurance agent on Main Street. He also had
a cattle farm. He cut a field of hay and asked when he got it bailed could the Perdue family haul for him. The answer was yes. However, they were busy helping many farmers with their hay. It was after dark when the Perdues and their
old truck arrived at Mr. Buckner’s farm. They worked as fast as they could because the weatherman was predicting rain. They got the last bale in the barn around midnight.
When they woke up the next morning, it was raining hard. Mr. Buckner called and said, “I went by my hay field just before dark and the hay was still on the ground. It was good hay and I’m sorry to lose it. But I am not mad at you. I know you have been really busy.” Oren replied, “Thank you for the call but they did get your hay up and it is in the barn. We finished about midnight.” Well, this was a very pleasant surprise for him.
However, the Perdues had made another friend. Another example: A man in the church by the name of Roy Robertson asked Oren if he would visit his neighbors, a rancher by the name of Paul Friend. When Oren went to meet him, he found Mr. Friend was building a new barn and was at the top of it putting purlins on the rafters. Oren made his way up the ladder, introduced himself and began a conversation.
The conversation ended with Oren presenting the Plan of Salvation. Mr. Friend became very emotional but eventually bowed his head and invited Jesus to be his Savior. Within the next week, Oren baptized Paul and his wife Barbara. Now the Friends became Oren’s friends and members of the Bible Baptist Church. Other such examples could be told like those which resulted in the people slowly accepting the new pastor and starting to attend the church. People were getting saved, baptized, and joining the church. The little auditorium was about filled to capacity.
The Lord began dealing with Oren about some changes that he thought the church should consider. During a Sunday night sermon, he shared with them his thoughts. He suggested the church should install a baptistry,
build a two-story addition with a basement, kitchen, Sunday School rooms, and tear out the little office and bathrooms that were in the back of the auditorium, which would enlarge the auditorium. New and bigger bathrooms could be
built in the addition. This would be a big undertaking. He asked them to pray about it.
After much thought and prayer, he told them if they would go with this project he would continue as their pastor and spearhead the project. (The church had had student pastors that left as soon as they graduated from college; they thought Oren might do that also.)
The vote was “yes, let’s do it.” So, work began immediately on the project. After some months of construction, a dedication was held. A good crowd assembled and were excited to tour the new two-story addition and all the improvements.
The Perdues were definitely being accepted. Oren was asked to be the speaker at the high school graduation in a crowded auditorium. He became friends with the only policeman of the town and occasionally rode with him. He wrote
an article for the local newspaper each week.
At Christmastime, an Outdoor Christmas Pageant was presented called “Bethlehem Came to Ash Grove”. The Perdues were no longer considered as foreigners but a respected part of the community.
It was probably about this time that the Lord began to burden Oren’s heart about considering the need back in his hometown of Salisbury, Maryland. He did not share this with others. He and Ruth prayed much about this matter. They loved the people of Ash Grove and felt they would be happy to invest the rest of their life there.
Should he resign the church and move back to Salisbury to start a church there? Was a seed labeled the Salisbury Baptist Temple starting to grow in his heart? Finally, when Oren thought the Lord was definitely dealing with him about the matter, he informed the church of it all.
He told them to start praying about a new pastor. Oren’s plan was when the children got out of school that the family would move back to Salisbury and start a church then.
Needless to say, the church did not want to hear that. He eased matters for them when he told them if he started the church in Salisbury, he would like it to be a mission out of the Bible Baptist Church of Ash Grove. This statement pleased them.
After a few weeks, the church did call Bro. Richard Page to be their new pastor. Oren moved his books and personal items out of the church office one morning and Bro. Page moved his in that afternoon. It was just great that the church did not go one day without a pastor.
The Perdues were happy that God had provided new leadership for the church. However, it was with much emotion that they loaded their earthly belongings in a U-Haul truck and prepared to go. Many people gathered around the truck. There were many tears shed. This was a tough time for the people and their former pastor.
The Perdue family arrived back in Salisbury on June 3, 1976. They were greeted with the sad news that Oren’s dad had died that morning with a massive heart attack. Certainly, that was not the welcome that they had anticipated. They moved into a rental house in Parsonsburg. It took a few days to get settled in and, of course, his dad’s funeral took place.
Oren began immediately to search for a building where he could begin to hold services. He finally made arrangements with the Holiday Inn and rented a meeting room there for Sunday AM & PM services. A homemade
sign which read “the Salisbury Baptist Temple meets here” with the times of the services, was set out on the sidewalk before each service. The first service was held on June 20, 1976. There were 27 people present. They continued
to hold services there for the next six months.
In November, a 40’ by 70’ truck garage was rented on the corner of Pine Way and Cross Way. The lease was good for two years. After much renovation, the building began to look some like a church inside. A ceiling was installed, carpet put down, platform built, baptistry installed, and some used theater seats were set up. The outside was painted and looked like a “clean” truck garage.
When Christmastime came, they held their first Outdoor Christmas Pageant. A couple of farm wagons made up the stage. A few lights and a small sound system were installed. They did have some cars that parked and watched the fifteen minute performance. It was put on four times each night.
Since the church now had its own building and could hold services anytime, a Missions Conference was scheduled in January. They were thrilled to have Lonnie Brooks, missionary to Kenya, and the Bill Ecton Family, missionaries to Korea, as their special guests. The church’s first anniversary service was scheduled to be held in June, 1977. Pastor Perdue suggested that they have a charter service at that time.
Pastor Richard Page, the pastor at the Bible Baptist Church of Ash Grove (the mother church) came and conducted the service. One hundred twenty two persons signed the charter, and the Salisbury Baptist Temple was then no longer a mission but a full-fledged church. At this point, they only had 1 ½ years left on the truck garage lease. Thoughts and prayers as to where they would go from here became top priority.
A 17.4-acre parcel was for sale on Hobbs Road. The price was $150,000.00. Could the young church take on such a deal? After much prayer, the church voted to purchase this property. A loan was secured. Pastor urged
the church to pay the loan off as soon as possible and the property could be used as collateral to build a building.
This was done and a groundbreaking ceremony was held on April 22, 1978. Plans were made to erect a 60’ by 250’ steel building. A contract to pour the concrete slab and erect the steel frame and the roof and sides (no windows or doors) was issued.
The contract was awarded to I. W. Long of Selbyville, DE. The man in charge of the construction was T. C. Collison. He started meeting with us in the truck garage. He soon was saved, baptized, and became a very valuable part of the church.
When the second anniversary came in June of 1978, the building was beginning to take shape. The roof over what is now the auditorium was completed up to the foyer. It was decided to hold the second anniversary service under that part of the building.
Again, a couple of farm wagons were brought in to make up the platform, and the service was held there.
The men and boys continued to work on finishing the inside of the building. They only had until November in the truck garage. Mr. Mac McCrorey took on the job seeing that building materials needed were ordered. So, when the men came in to work each evening, he could place the men at the place of work. The building was finished.
December 3rd was set as the Dedication Day. Dr. Jerry Falwell came as our Dedication Day speaker. There were 869 people attending. The pews were all full and chairs were set
up in the aisles.
Later, a Nanticoke Home was purchased and placed on the property. In September 1979 the Salisbury Baptist Academy began. Miss Irene Korrell was the principal. It included grades K-12.
The academy boys’ shop class built the Bus Barn in 1980.
In 1988 the Bus Shed was built. Mr. Vernon Budd and his men set the poles. A day to finish the building was set and 50 men came and worked. Pastor Perdue said if the Amish can build a barn in a day the Baptist should
also. At the end of the day, the building was finished and the buses parked under it.
Several pieces of property were looked at; however, nothing seemed to work out. So, it was decided to start a day camp on the present property. Two acres of the farm just east of the church property was rented and
the rodeo arena was erected. The Bus Shed became the tabernacle where the chapel services were held. One problem was the only bathrooms were in the main church building. It was time-consuming and inconvenient to walk the campers
to and from the church building. In 2001 an addition was built on the Bus Shed with bathrooms, an office, and a large craft room. This was a great plus for the camp.
More property was needed for horse pasture, hiking and biking, etc. This problem was solved when Mrs. Whaley, who owned the farm next door, decided to sell her 93-acre farm. She said she would hold the mortgage. An agreement was made, and the farm next door became “The Master’s Ranch”. Pasture and fencing were established.
The above history of the Salisbury Baptist Temple could rightly be called Chapter #1. Many blessings have been shared. However, many important things have been omitted. Some of them are mentioned below:
Weekly services were held at the county jail.
Weekly services were held at several nursing homes.
Weekly radio program was aired locally.
Five bus routes were covered each Sunday.
An Outdoor Christmas Pageant was presented each Christmas.
An Outdoor Passion Play was presented each Easter.
n Annual Faith Promise Missions Conference was held.
The church contributes monthly support to 49 foreign missionaries and 24 home mission projects.
The church has given a total of $1,437,165.93 to Faith Promise Missions since it began. The property, buildings, buses, and equipment are all paid for. The church was debt free. God had called many youth to attend
Bible College and/or surrender to fulltime Christian Service. Many souls had been saved through the church’s many ministries; for this, God only gets the glory. One day in Heaven we will rejoice with them.
In 2006 Pastor Perdue revealed that He was very pleased with the blessings God had given to SBT. It was a great privilege and honor to be the pastor for 30 years. However, since now in his 70’s, he thought a younger
pastor would do a better job. He said he was willing to resign if the church found such a man. Bro. Carlo Leto was called and Pastor Perdue did resign in August of 2006.
Since the information for this history was shared with us by Pastor Perdue, this chapter of SBT’s history ended at his resignation.