Church History

Burdened for lost souls; Dr. D.M. Hardison founded Tidewater Baptist Temple in the spring of 1966 with 72 charter members attending. They met in the Park Elementary School until the sanctuary was dedicated in October 1967. For the last few weeks before the dedication of the building, the members met in a revival tent. Under the leadership of Dr. Hardison, the church grew, people were saved, and baptisms were held every Sunday evening for some time.

In September 1977, Dr. Hardison went into fulltime evangelistic work and Dr. Paul Hawkins accepted the call to the pastorate at Tidewater Baptist Temple. Not long after, in February of 1979, the church moved from 3400 Berkley Avenue to its present location at 1316 Campostella Rd. In 1986 and 1988 extensions were purchased or built for the property. Pastor and Linda Hawkins served the church faithfully for 27 years.

In October of 2004, Charles Pearson (then assistant pastor) was called as Senior Pastor when Dr. Hawkins was led to move into full-time missionary/evangelistic work. God has continued to bless the church with a steady growth both in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ and in membership and ministry opportunities. Tidewater Baptist Temple’s church family rejoice together in all that God has done for these many years and look forward to all the will of God as they continue.