On September 10, 1898 an auction was held at the former site of Clear Spring Baptist Church, and Charles Warholm purchased the property for $36.50 and then sold it to John M. In 1894 the congregation still went by this title because Clear Spring was one of the charter members of the Powell River Baptist Association, which formed in October 1894 at Thompson Settlement Baptist Church. Oakley and J.P
. Herndon, were present. There was no pastor at that time Rev. Jessee had passed away in 1891. The churches present were: Beacon Light, Beech Grove, Clear Spring, Corinth, Deep Springs, Friendship, Hardy’s Creek, Jonesville, Landmark, Lone Branch, Pennington Gap, Olive Branch, Olinger, Pine Grove, Royal Oaks, Thompson Settlement, Sliver Leaf, Station Creek, and Rowland’s Chapel. The first time in recorded history that this church was called Dryden Missionary Baptist Church was in October 1898, when Elkanah and Rebecca (Zion) Pennington deeded the property over to the Trustees of Dryden Baptist, which were: A.K. Debusk, J.T. Hall, J.P. Herndon, and H.T. Parsons.The new building served the congregation well; it was a white frame building typical to that era. It had only two Sunday School rooms, a sanctuary and a bell tower. Whe bell still serves us today. It had hanging kerosene parlor lamps and a potbelly stove for lighting and heating. Later these were replaced with electric lamps and a coal furnace with money gained from the sale of the Lee Baptist Institute [formerly known as Curry College] in the 1930s. The year of 1961 was a turning point for Dryden missionary Baptist Church, as the first full-time pastor, Rev. John Prince was hired. Prior to this time the church had shared one pastor with Olinger Baptist Church and received aid from the Virginia Baptist. Under the leadership of Rev. Prince the church became self-supporting and began to contribute to the Cooperative Program of the Southern Baptist missions. The J.T. Stewart family gave land in 1969, for the purpose of building a pastorium. The home for the Pastor was completed in 1970. In 1975, through a generous contribution from Charlie and Barbara Poe, along with other donations from many other members, the current building was erected to replace the former structure that had fallen into disrepair. Since that time, several modifications have been made to the building. These include New Stained Glass Windows, New Foyer, Handicap Restrooms, and Handicap Access for both levels.
