Holy Barbecue On a Plate at Barbecue Church

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A big pot of chopped barbecue is ready to be served.

If you find a place with “barbecue” as its first name, you probably think you are close to Heaven, particularly if you are in a church. Barbecue Church, now Barbecue Presbyterian Church, knows a thing or two about barbecue. Founded in 1757, it has long been central to community life near Sanford, NC, and a place where great barbecue is served at its fall harvest celebration. 

Barbecue Presbyterian Church celebrates a rich tradition.

Barbecue: A Church, A Community, A Township 

When I moved to the N.C. Sandhills, one of my surprising discoveries was finding “barbecue” as a place name. A church on a road in a community in a township all have “barbecue” as a part of their names. What a coincidence, I thought. Not really. 

The church, founded in 1757, gets its name not from pork but from a legacy story. According to the church historian, a new settler to the area before the church was founded saw steam rising from a nearby creek. It reminded him of meat-cooking pits that he had seen in the Caribbean, and he named the creek Barbecue Creek.

 

An annual harvest festival is celebrated each September.

The name Barbecue was adopted for the community when new settlers began arriving during the early 1750s. It still represents the unincorporated community in the Barbecue Township of Harnett County. The township has a population of 17,000. 

The Barbecue community enjoys the annual harvest festival.

Barbecue Presbyterian Church: A Long History 

The early settlers were Highland Scots who brought the Presbyterian faith with them. They also brought their Gaelic worship traditions that had been outlawed by Parliament a few years earlier. Without a church or a preacher, they pooled 100 pounds and called James Campbell, a preacher from Philadelphia who had visited the area. He became the first Presbyterian minister in North Carolina and served Barbecue and two other churches (Long Street and Bluff) that were the “mother churches” to establish new churches in the N.C. Sandhills and gave up many members of their congregations for them to begin. He was the only minister to preach to the Scots in their Gaelic tongue until 1773.

A N.C. highway sign marks the history of the church and its founding in 1757.

The church was founded by Scottish Presbyterians who sailed to North Carolina after leaving Jura, Isle of Skye, in northern Scotland and the Presbytery of Inverary in 1739. Services initially were held in the back room of John Dobbins’s Ordinary (a tavern). In 1765 the first sanctuary, a one-room log building, was constructed. Ten years later a larger, wooden frame structure was completed. The third structure that still stands was built in 1895. 

Early settlers arrived from the Isle of Skye in northern Scotland.

The congregation has carried on its traditions for many years and celebrated its 250th anniversary just a few years ago. The annual harvest festival is a popular event for the congregation and local community. 

Many church members participate in chopping the barbecue. Photo: Barbecue Church via Facebook.

Traditional Barbecue at Barbecue Church 

The barbecue served during the harvest festival upholds the traditions of the church and the status of its name. However, rivaling the barbecue is chicken ‘n’ dumplings. What a combination. With them, cole slaw and mashed sweet potatoes with a roll are served on a plate. 

Sometimes chicken 'n' dumplings are just as good as barbecue.

The early Scots would be proud that the congregation has survived and continues to flourish. Enjoying barbecue with them is a great way to celebrate their heritage.

The annual event starts the day before with cooking pork shoulders. Photo: Barbecue Church via Facebook.