The refrain echoed throughout the sanctuary at Mount Olive Baptist Church on a recent Sunday.
“Paid in full,” declared the Rev. Dr. Curtis Edmonds.
“Paid in full,” the congregation repeated, rising to their feet.
“Paid in full!” he exclaimed again.
“Paid in full!” they answered, louder and more joyful than before.
Pews were full for the church’s 208th anniversary celebration, a service that honored not only its long history but also the complete payoff of the sanctuary mortgage — 18 years before the loan was due.
Later, during a mortgage-burning ceremony, Edmonds dropped the flaming “Certificate of Mortgage Satisfaction” into a golden vessel and let it burn as the choir behind him sang out, and others joined in. The amount, $286,056, was announced to applause, after church member Edward Parker felt called just three weeks earlier to eliminate the remaining debt.
“This fire is a testimony,” he declared.
The moment, he reminded those gathered, was about more than financial freedom. It marked a new beginning for Stafford’s first Black congregation.
‘They hewed out the wilderness’
Mount Olive Baptist Church was founded in 1818 in the woods of Stafford County’s Hartwood community, near Roseville. It is the oldest active Black church in Stafford County, according to both church history and the Stafford County African American Heritage Trail. Today, Mount Olive is one of the 23 stops on the trail, a self-guided digital driving tour preserving 300 years of Black history in the county.
Church history records report that five individuals first gathered beneath a wooden “slab harbor” before permanent structures were erected. At the time, Black people — whether free or enslaved — were prohibited from congregating without a white person present. Because of those restrictions, Mount Olive was initially served by a white minister until the laws were overturned.
As the first Black church in Stafford County: “They hewed out the wilderness and drew up a highway for coming generations to have a path to follow.”
The church’s footprint has grown since that first temporary structure, which stood in a wooded area just across the parking lot from the current sanctuary, on the same property at the end of Mount Olive Road. Its cemetery is dotted with the names of the families who have been instrumental in that growth: Parker, Hawkins, Johnson, Hill and Cole.
A permanent church building was constructed in 1959, but the growing congregation eventually outgrew it and began planning a new sanctuary in 2008. After years of work, the current sanctuary was dedicated in 2011.
The church’s impact has extended beyond worship. Soon after the Civil War, the Mount Olive community established Mount Olive School, years before any public school was available to Black students in Stafford County.
Mount Olive Baptist Church was founded in 1818 and has endured in the Hartwood part of Stafford County ever since. (Photo by Jeff Kearney.)
The church’s ministries actively support the community through counseling, grief and caregiver support, mentorship, couples ministry, men’s and women’s fellowships, youth and young adult ministries, evangelism and outreach missions, prison ministry and spiritual growth programs.
The church also serves the community through the SHARE Food Program, which helps provide food to individuals and families in need each month. In addition, ministries focused on health, wellness, and fellowship, such as gospel line dancing, the healthcare ministry, and community fellowship events.
“As we look ahead, my hope is that Mount Olive will always be known as a church that genuinely loves God and genuinely loves people,” Edmonds said. “Our desire is not simply to preserve history, but to build upon that legacy in ways that continue advancing the Kingdom of God. At the end of the day, success for us is not measured simply by buildings, numbers, or accomplishments. We want to be remembered as a church that made a lasting difference in people’s lives.”
Banking on faith
Throughout the anniversary service, speakers reflected on the sacrifices and faith that sustained the church across generations.
In a recorded message, 93-year-old Doris Hill recalled coming to Mount Olive after her marriage. One of her earliest memories was of the Rev. Peter Carter working on a church building that still stands on the property. Bees had swarmed inside the old church, and while the men worked, she and other women prepared lunch by hand for the workers.
Trustee Ralph Johnson, who played a key role in constructing the current sanctuary, described the church-building process as one “built on faith that sustains us to this day.”
After securing an architect, approvals and a general contractor, the church struggled to find financing.
“The sixth lender,” recalled Johnson, “First Citizens Bank in Fredericksburg, finally approved them.” Three representatives of that institution, Paola Alfaro, Sam Patel, and Walter Clarke, were in attendance to celebrate with the church.
Even while clearing land for the new sanctuary, Johnson said the congregation remained committed to helping the surrounding community. Members split the felled wood and carried “80 to 90 loads of firewood” to neighbors, labor that provided warmth and care throughout the area.
But the most emotional part of Johnson’s recollection centered on a conversation just three weeks earlier. During Sunday school, Edward Parker’s niece approached him with a message: Parker wanted to pay off the remaining mortgage balance and simply needed the final amount.
The following Sunday, she handed over an envelope containing a card to that effect: “I want to pay off the mortgage for Mount Olive Church.”
During his sermon, Edmonds shared that Parker had experienced what he described as divine direction.
“God had come to Parker in a dream and said, ‘Ed, don’t buy a car. Pay off your church,’” Edmonds told the congregation. “God performed a miracle three weeks ago through vessel Ed Parker.”
Edward Parker was inspired by a dream to pay off the balance of the church’s mortgage. A sign honors his contribution. (Photo by Jeff Kearney.)
Moving across the full span of the podium, Edmonds preached about perseverance, responsibility and faith after breakthrough.
“The mortgage is gone, but the mission remains,” he said. “Breakthrough is not the finish line, the starting line for greatness.”
He reminded the congregation that blessings also carry responsibility, noting “There’s work to be done.”
The message moved the members to their feet and two people to come forward in discipleship — officially joining the congregation after a visitation period — during the altar call.
Paying off the mortgage, Edmunds explained, allows the church to begin planning more intentionally for the future.
“One of the visions we have is a family life center: a space that would allow us to further serve … community needs of people of all ages,” he said. “We envision a place where ministry, mentorship, fellowship, wellness, and community outreach can continue to grow for generations to come.”
Into the Future
Even amid the joy, the anniversary carried a deeper reminder: Mount Olive Baptist Church has endured for 208 years not simply because it survived, but because generation after generation continued the work.
The church honored the Parker family with a plaque and a road sign recognizing their contribution and legacy, and honored Sheila Boatwright and Ralph Johnson for their leadership and service during the sanctuary project.
The congregation dressed in green and gold, colors that matched the sanctuary upholstery and altar cloths of the liturgical season; it was as though the church’s anniversary itself had been ordained.
The Rev. Zolly Hawthorne joined the service and stood to speak, despite being a week removed from heart surgery that resulted in five stents.
He described the mortgage-burning during his invocation as “more than an anniversary service, a witness to service, a reminder that God has provided for us as a church because He is worthy to be praised.”
That’s typical inside the sanctuary, longtime member Ethel Hawkins said. She continued that the gladness is each other’s company and feeling of gratitude to be there together is felt “every Sunday. Every day.”
Hawkins’ family joined Mt. Olive 74 years ago, when she was 10. She remembers her parents serving actively as deacon and deaconess and the exuberant welcome they received when they first arrived.
More than seven decades later, she said that feeling has never changed. The church remains another home.
It’s home to the same spirit, carried forward generation after generation, that has sustained Mount Olive Baptist Church for more than 200 years.
