A band of people decided to find a place where they could worship God, so Robert Cunningham, Curtis Wilkie, Elmer Harris, Herbert Step, and others asked Mr. Roy Baldwin for his dairy barn to have service in. He gave his consent, and the building was repaired and put in condition to have service in.

Here is how they described those early days: "We battled along with many a heartache for a while having Sunday School, singing, and asking different preachers to preach for us. Mr. Claude Cunningham led us in a singing school. A collection was taken for him. He didn't want a penny for teaching the singing school, so he took part of the money and bought a nice Bible and donated it to the church.

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On August 28, 1949, our church was organized. Rev. Troy Isreal acted as Moderator, and Cleophus Reed acted as Clerk. There were seven different churches represented: Chimney Rock, Hooper's Creek, Mills River, Naples, Richland, Fletcher, and Rev. Pegg's church. There were three ministers that had a part in the organization. They were Rev. Pegg, Rev. Osteen and Rev. Troy Isreal. The name Oak Forest was given to the church. Those who affirmed that they wanted a church organized were as follows: Henry Claude Keeter from Chimney Rock Church, James Gragg from Hoopers Creek Church, Lily Harris from Hoopers Creek Church, Bennie Marshel Case from Naples Church, and Marie Gragg from Hoopers Creek Church.

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Sunday night on September 18, 1949, with Howard Garren acting as our moderator, Rev. Paul Ballenger was elected our pastor by one hundred percent of the members. December 4, 1949, the church had a discussion on buying a piece of land to build a church on, and everyone seemed to think that was the right thing to do. Mr. and Mrs. Ellard Garren sold the people a piece of land for one hundred dollars ($100) to build a church on. The deed was made for the land on December 5, 1949. We moved to our new church facility on Sunday, June 4, 1950."

For over 75 years, we have gathered in this same location to proclaim the gospel as a light to our community, to the nation, and to the ends of the earth. If Christ tarries, we aim to continue for another 75 years and beyond, remaining faithful to share the good news with a dying world. We proclaim to all that Christ is the only way to salvation, the only hope, the only truth, and that Christ alone is worthy of our faith and trust.