The Lebanon Baptist Church (LBC) was established on April 27, 1856 and was eventually affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. As the church grew, LBC helped to organize local churches, such as: Cedar Hill Baptist (1868), Green Valley Baptist Church (1894), Glade Baptist Church (1912), and Community Heights Baptist Mission Church near Southwest Virginia Community College (1982). Throughout the history of LBC, the members have demonstrated a true care for people everywhere and a strong adherence to Christian values. The Covenant adopted by the church provides that: “We will exercise a Christian care and watchfulness over each other, and faithfully warn, rebuke, and admonish one another.” Originally, the LBC established itself on the New Hampshire Confession of Faith (1833), which became the basis of the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 confession by which the church currently adheres.       

Baptists can trace their origins to John Smyth and the Separatist movement in 1609. Baptists have historically advocated churches composed of believers who were admitted based on a personal confession of faith and Believer’s Baptism. Baptists have always held to a high standard of biblical teaching and publishing numerous confessions of faith since the early seventeenth century. Today, Southern Baptists are a worldwide movement, sending missionaries across the globe, and upholding the influence of the early Baptist leaders and their teachings.