Church History

Zion Road Baptist Church was founded in 1973 by the late Rev. Edward and Lula Mae Downs from Casar, NC. Original Trustees of the Church included R.G. Swink, Rowe Parton, and Bob Lowe. The building itself had previously been used as a Methodist church, but when they built a new building down the road, they agreed to sell the existing structure to Rev. Downs. Thus, Zion Road Baptist Church was established, with the first service being held September 9, 1973.

Rev. Downs pastored for 25 years, leading countless souls to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. He dearly loved gospel music and held a gospel singing the first Saturday night in each month featuring local talent as well as regional groups from North Carolina and the surrounding states. Another hallmark of Rev. Downs’ ministry was the annual Brush Harbor meetings which were held south of Morganton closer to his hometown. Rev. Downs partnered with Rev. David Robinson of Victory Baptist Church in Hickory, NC to host the annual event which was a throwback to the old-time outdoor revivals that these men of God remembered from their youth.

As Rev. Downs grew older and his health began to fade, he called on a young preacher coming up in the church to help more and more. Then in 1997, he recommended him to the church for the position of assistant pastor. That young man was Micah Piercy, his nephew, who had accepted the call to preach in 1995. They served together for one year before Rev. Downs’ health declined to the point that he decided to step down as pastor.

On his recommendation, the church elected Rev. Micah Piercy as pastor in August of 1998. Micah had been married to his wife (and long-time church member) Marisa for less than a year when they accepted the call to pastor the church. Together they sought to continue in the traditional old-time spirit-filled worship that drew them to the church and kept them coming back. They pastored through the beginning of 2003 when health issues within the family compelled Micah to step away from the pastorate to focus on the needs of his family.

The Church elected Fred Tyler as the new pastor, and he served faithfully for a few months and then suffered a terrible fall and was called home to heaven before the end of the year. One of the things that Rev. Tyler introduced to the church was a drama call “What Heaven Means to Me.” The church has performed this several times through the years and it never fails to produce souls for the kingdom. It is not uncommon to hear testimonies of current church members who gave their hearts to Christ when they visited the church during a performance of this drama.

Shortly after the death of Rev. Tyler, the church once again called on Micah and his wife Marisa to lead the congregation, and together they continue to serve in those roles to this day. Through the years the church has placed special emphasis on a vibrant youth ministry anchored in the annual summertime Bible School and wintertime Christmas Play. In addition, the church still hosts monthly gospel singings (although they have moved to Sunday night) featuring local talent and inviting “whosever will” to come and worship.

The church has also continued in faithful support of missions, the Gideon ministries, Samaritan’s Purse, and the local Hospice. Along with these outreach ministries, the church maintains a small food pantry and a benevolence fund to provide support to those in our community who may be experiencing financial difficulties.

Rev. Scott Evans and his wife Wanda served as Assistant Pastor for several years in the late 2000’s and early 2010’s but have since moved on to other local ministries. Scott has also authored several books which are available on Amazon.

In August of 2019, the church elected Rev. Chris Willis and wife Lisa to the role of assistant pastor. The Willis family brings a wealth of musical talent and share in the church’s vision of service to the community.

One very snowy Sunday in the Winter of 2018, Church had to be called off due to the bad weather and road conditions. Lori Miller suggested that the preacher’s family go live on Facebook from the house. Of course, preacher Micah didn’t know how to do that, but fortunately his children did, so they set it up in the living room and had church online. Who would have believed it, but that live stream got over 1,200 views online? Zion Road Baptist Church had entered the online age with a bang. Shortly thereafter, we began streaming all of our services online regularly getting hundreds of views and comments on the services from all over the US and even as far away as Germany.

As you all know, the world was thrown unwillingly into a global pandemic called COVID in the winter of 2020. Many churches were forced to stop having services because of this unprecedented disease. Zion Road Baptist Church however was already live streaming over Facebook, so it was a pretty smooth transition for the church to simply go to online services. It’s amazing how God used a snow day in 2018 to help prepare us for a virus in 2020. God is Awesome! As soon as the weather permitted, we started having outdoor services on a flatbed trailer provided by Robbie Greene (Green Trucking 828-455-0666). We sure had some great times out back in that parking lot!

On May 24^th, 2020, Satan tried to destroy the church building when a fire broke out in a storage room in the back. By God’s grace however, the fire was discovered almost immediately after it began and was quickly put out by local fire firefighters with minimal damage to anywhere besides that room. Not everything in that room was destroyed however, as firefighters pulled out an old wooden cross which had been stored there. To quote the local Fire Marshall “Some things just won’t burn.”

2022 is an exciting time for Zion Road Baptist Church. We have just recently begun construction of a 40’ x 60’ fellowship hall. The church has been saving for years and plans are to build this addition debt free. Please help us pray that God will provide the necessary funding. We anticipate that this fellowship hall will be a great center of outreach to the local community and provide a much-needed indoor space for our fellowship meals. You know how we Baptists love to eat. 😊 You can view pictures of the construction process by clicking the link below or the page above titled "Fellowship Hall".