Church History

EBC Historical Site

Land to build the Ebenezer Baptist Church was first purchased in 1881, just seven years after the Town of Occoquan was incorporated. Ebenezer was the first Negro Church established in this part of Northern Virginia.

The Reverend Lewis Henry Bailey, a former slave and a member of the Ebenezer Baptist Church of Alexandria, Virginia, was the founder. The men and women who worked with Rev. Bailey to provide this House of Worship were devout disciples of Christ. They toiled diligently to make a church home for themselves and their descendants.

Ebenezer's first cornerstone was laid on the first Sunday in May, 1883. Every year there after, Ebenezer has gathered on that day to give thanks and to express gratitude to God for His goodness. This first Sunday in May, 1914 was also the day of the largest annual baptismal ceremony of new members in the history of Ebenezer when forty converts were baptized in the Occoquan River-Mother Saluka Toliver, Ebenezer's oldest member, was one of the forty. Ebenezer celebrates three special days each year:

  1. The Church's anniversary on the first Sunday in March
  2. May Rally on the first Sunday in May
  3. Homecoming and the start of Fall Revival on the first Sunday in October.

On June 23, 1990, God called Rev. Charles A. Lundy to lead Ebenezer through the difficult and arduous task of constructing a larger sanctuary to accommodate the ever-increasing Church Family. Pastor Lundy's first sermon, "Stay in the Ship," continues the legacy of building for the future begun by our founding fathers. Ebenezer looks forward to dedicating unto God a new Sanctuary and Family Life Center. With God all Things are possible, for the Spirit of God binds us together in Love. And together. . .

"We're Marching to Zion."