Hill Chapel M. B. Church

Hill Chapel Missionary Baptist Church is a body of Christ's baptized believers, acknowledging him as the head, united in the belief of the gospel, agreeing to maintain its ordinances and obey its precepts; rules and regulations as established by the body itself. Meeting together for worship with one common object: to give vent to the Holy Spirit, to accept the teachings of Christ, and to do what he has commanded. The church experienced five developmental periods during a span of over one hundred years and five pastors.

The Founder: Reverend William Harris organized Hill Chapel in 1907 in a two-room "shotgun" house. He died eight years later.


The Establisher: Reverend I. H. Jenkins was elected to the Pastorate of Hill Chapel in 1915. He established a church expansion project to enlarge and remodel the church. He served for twenty-seven years until his death.


The Builder: Reverend E. L. Slay became the third pastor of Hill Chapel in 1942. The membership grew rapidly during his tenure and the church affiliated with local, state and national Christian organizations. The church moved into a new $65,000 edifice on July 6, 1952. In 1972, the church completed a $100,000 annex. He pastored for thirty-five years until his death in 1977.


The Organizer: Reverend J. L. Armstrong was elected as the fourth pastor on August 21, 1978. With a varied background in Baptist tradition and as a dynamic organizer, he created many new programs and reorganized others. He pastored until May 20, 1984.


The Revitalizer: On Monday, May 28, 1984, Reverend Robert Earl Jones, was elected by the church in its entirety, to the position of Interim Pastor. On July 11, 1984, Rev. Robert Earl Jones, a son of Hill Chapel was elected as the church's fifth pastor, and preached his first sermon as pastor on July 15, 1984. At the young age of 26, Rev. Jones accepted the responsibility to pastor at the church where he was raised, baptized, licensed and ordained

The church has seen phenomenal growth in the last 25 years. Membership has increased from approximately 200 to more than 4,000 members. Additional church services have been implemented under his pastorate. Under his pastorate additional worship services were added, new ministries were implemented, and various community outreach programs have been developed. Crown Financial, Evangelism Explosion, Community Development Corp (CDC) and WeServe are some of the programs and ministries Pastor Jones as put in place. Pastor Jones has also led many sons & daughters while they accepted their call to preach; some of those sons & daughters are now leading their own flocks.


In 2004, Hill Chapel celebrated the grand opening of its an $8 million edifice. The worship site is located at 4523 Raleigh-LaGrange Rd & seats over 2,000 people with future plans to add a chapel, family life center & fellowship hall. Pastor Jones and his wife Harriet were responsible for the conceptualization of the vision of the edifice. Both served as project managers during this monolithic construction project and their efforts were not hampered when the 2521 Dexter Avenue property was completely destroyed by fire on January 18, 2003. It was predestined for Pastor Jones to have a contingency plan for the fire as the church had been meeting for services at Cypress Junior High since May 12, 2002 due to overcrowding at the 2521 Dexter location.