Forks of Elkhorn Baptist Church
495 Duckers Road
Midway, Kentucky 40347
859/873-1967 OR 866/371-5600 (Toll Free) OR 859/879-8473 (Fax)
Todd Lester, Pastor
Two questions asked quite frequently:
Why does the church have the name "Forks of Elkhorn Baptist" when it is no where near the Forks of Elkhorn creek?
Where was the original church building located?
Get the answers by taking this link.
Chronology
September 1781 - Upper Spotsylvania congregation begins Kentucky pilgrimage to escape widespread persecution of Baptists
December 1781 - Spotsylvania congregation arrives at Gilbert's Creek (Garrard County)
1783 - "Traveling Church” moves to South Elkhorn in Fayette County
1788 - With William Hickman as pastor, Forks of Elkhorn congregation relocates and builds frame meetinghouse at crossroads of Steele's Ferry and Lexington-Leestown Roads to take advantage of increasing road travel
1788 - Church unites with Elkhorn Association
1796 - Church increases to 123 members
1800 - Great countrywide revival, often occurring at week-long camp meetings drawing as many as 20,000 people, triple Baptist membership and allow William Hickman to baptize 500 people in two years
February 1801 - Church releases six Forks of Elkhorn members including William Hickman, Jr. and his wife Obedience to develop South Benson Baptist Church where he would serve as pastor most of his life
April 1801 - Church releases six members to seed congregation on the North Fork of Elkhorn (Switzer), fourteen for the development of Zion Baptist Church
May 1801 - Ten or more Forks of Elkhorn members help charter Glen Creek Church
October 1812 - Eight Forks of Elkhorn members help being Big Spring, later called Spring Station Church
February 1816 - Eleven Forks members leave fellowship to organize First Baptist Church of Frankfort
January 1818 - Eleven members transfer from parent church to establish Buck Run Church
1820 - Brick building replaces original frame structure
1821 - With South Benson, Salt River, Twins, Hopewell, Mt. Pleasant, Mouth of Elkhorn and Big Spring, charters and moves membership to Franklin Association
1830 - Alexander Campbell's teaching causes rifts in Baptist churches and leads to two factions at Forks of Elkhorn with the Baptist meeting on the second Saturday and Sunday; the new denomination meeting on the third, and the African-American congregation also sharing the building.
January 1834 - William Hickman dies on his return from preaching at South Benson and is buried in the Frankfort Cemetery.
January 1835 - First steam railroad west of the Alleghenies and the second in the United States, adjacent to the meetinghouse, establishes Duckers as one of the first railroad stations serving the Lexington to Frankfort route.
1845-50 - “Reform Church” cease using the Forks of Elkhorn meetinghouse
1850 - Robert W. Scott establishes first Sunday School
1866 - Harmony Presbyterian Church and Fork of Elkhorn exchange buildings and land
1867 - Sunday School reopens and prayer meetings held on Wednesday and Sunday nights.
1876 - Women's Missionary Society organizes; church purchases organ
September 1885 - Church ordains John R. Sampey, 22.
January 1886 - Rev. Sampey lists in diary 40 nonmembers of congregation and vows to pray for them everyday; a revival in August results in 41 additions.
1904 - John Sampey proposes new building; congregation chooses Duckers for its proximity to train station and village.
1912 - Church completes new, brick, thirteen room building seating 300 and costing $9,000.
1920 - Congregation of 280 divides into groups of ten with a deacon or deaconess in charge of each group.
1926 - Dr. Sampey completes slightly more than twenty-three years of his pastorate at Forks of Elkhorn
1934 - Church revival; Rev. Leo Green receives sixty-four additions
June 1938 - Dr. Sampey leads sesquicentennial observation
October 1943 - Building and contents burn; Woodburn School serves as meeting site for two years.
1945 - With the war's end, members build current structure
June 1957 - Dedication of stained glass windows
April 1982 - Fire severely damages interior but spares windows; members use parsonage and later Hearn School for service October 1982 - First service in refurbished building.
1998 - With an average of 30 in the Sunday morning congregation, Forks of Elkhorn calls Rev. Todd Lester as its fiftieth pastor.
Easter 2000 - Adds second morning service to accommodate growing attendance
June 20, 2001 - Congregation approved (100%) plans to build a new church across the road from current one.
December 14, 2003 - Congregation moved into new church building across the road from the original site.