My dad and mom, Ray and Irene Varney, met at Cave Spring Baptist Church in a second-grade Sunday School class. This was at the little white church up on the hill off of Brambleton, sometime around 1939. From then on, CSBC was our church family.

In 1955, we moved to the present location, where | was baptized, along with both of my brothers, as well as numerous cousins and friends. It seems that this church has always been my refuge.......my home away from home. It was here that my journey of Faith in Jesus began and continues. We have been very blessed by all the good folks who have served the Lord here in this community.

Just a few weeks ago, I stopped by the room where I went as a Sunday School preschooler, almost 70 years ago. I recalled sitting with kids on the floor as a teacher used a flannel board to teach us that Jesus loves us, that God helped David kill a mean giant with a rock, and that He restores my soul. We were taught to memorize scripture, some of which I still remember. It was here that I learned to love Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.

Our class was called the Beginner Department, and many of us had excellent beginnings at Cave Spring Baptist Church. I will be forever grateful that our tribe believed in this church. It has been a treasured example of God's beauty and goodness to me. Thank You, Lord!!!

Lynne Varney Thrasher

In 1963 my family moved to the Cave Spring area – just a few blocks from Cave Spring Baptist Church.  I was in the ninth grade, my brother Johnny in the third grade and my sister Michelle was born in 1967.  My mother, Virginia St. Clair Kendrick, taught Sunday School and I was involved in the youth program and sang with the choir and sometimes played the piano and organ.  Summer programs for teenagers, led by youth pastors, provided many opportunities for fellowship:  trips to Eagle Eyrie, various activities and Youth Sunday.  I remember one service in particular…  We called it a Contemporary Worship Service and played a recording of  “Bridge Over Troubled Water” – which remains one of my favorites.  

While teaching music in Fincastle I met my future husband, Benjamin Booth, who was a Presbyterian Minister.  We married on December 27, 1973 and were together until his passing in November 2023.  (Our daughter, Rebecca Booth DeVasher, was born in 1977.)  I was ordained as an elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA) in 1989 and served on sessions in two churches.  I currently serve on the Session of the First Presbyterian Church in Fort Payne, Alabama.  The encouragement I received from so many at Cave Spring Baptist started me on a journey, where today, I have served as a church musician for 60 years.  

Rev. Rolen Bailey dedicated his life to serving God and others with grace, kindness, humility and compassion.  He walked alongside my family.  Rev. Bailey baptized my brother Johnny, conducted my father’s (John B. St. Clair) funeral in 1972, officiated at my wedding in 1973, officiated at my mother’s (Virginia St. Clair Kendrick) wedding to Russell in 1976 and conducted my mother’s funeral in 2005.

I was living in Wytheville, Virginia and teaching music in the Bland County School System when the phone rang just before sunrise on December 19, 1972.  My father had passed during the night.  Rev. Bailey and Paul Lester drove to Wytheville so one of them could drive my car back to our house.  Our Cave Spring Baptist Church family, along with Rev. Bailey, Frances, Patti and John, exemplified caring, warmth, hospitality and grace.  I will always be grateful for the many acts of kindness they showed to my family.

With deepest gratitude,

Susan St. Clair Booth

 For 14 years Cave Spring Baptist Church was our home. To remember all the things that took place during those wonderful years is impossible. Those memories include some sad things as well as many happy times.

     As we journeyed from Pittsylvania County to the suburb of  Cave Spring our eyes were opened to the opportunities that lay before us. We had come to a new realization of what  life would hold for us.

    The year was 1960. There were three and a half of us who travelled that route. The ones included in this trip were Rolen, Frances, 6-year-old Patricia Lee, and we were expecting  a baby! I sat on a stool on the parsonage carport as the moving men did their job. So that began our journey to our new ministry.

     What a wonderful journey that was! For fourteen years we had many days of happiness, joy, sadness, wonder, surprises, loneliness, praises, guesses, love, support, satisfaction, delight, smiles, security, questions, purpose, blessings, togetherness, achievement, prayer, friends, hope, peace, and many more I could add.

     One of the greatest surprises was a move. Rolen came home from a deacon’s meeting and asked me how I would like it if the parsonage would be moved to make room for more  buildings. Needless to say, that was hard to believe. But it happened! In three years time, we left living on a highway, back up a hill, and down a little hill to a lovely location in a wonderful peaceful place. A lot could be said about that move!

     Our baby was born in November of the year we moved. Her name was Nancy Lou.  Her little life was diagnosed  with leukemia at four months. She went to be with the Lord at age seven months on June 20, 1961.  Emotions were high for those weeks and months. What a caring, thoughtful, understanding congregation was Cave Spring Baptist Church during those trying days.

     Happiness came four years later when I found out I was pregnant. On December 31, 1964, baby John Stuart was born. We made the tax deduction!  We left Cave Spring when he was 10 years old.

     Rolen and I celebrated birthdays and anniversaries throughout our years at Cave Spring. The church people were always on top of ways to help us celebrate.  On  Rolen’s 10th anniversary  of being pastor he was presented with a watch which he wore for many years.

     The church grew slowly but surely.  We needed more educational space, and the need was always met.  Rolen needed a secretary,  and one was hired soon after he was hired. Soon other staff people were employed. He led the church to start hiring Youth Pastors to take care of the youth during the summer months.  That proved  to be a blessing beyond measure!!

     About 2000 we decided to write a book.   It was to be our memoirs – the memory of our life from birth to the present time. A copy of that book titled “From Then Til Now”  was given to your church library. There are 88 pages dedicated to the years we served  Cave Spring.

          Rolen continued his ministry after we left Cave Spring. He was employed to become the first Director of Missions of the Roanoke Valley Baptist Association, and he served there for 15 years.  Upton retiring, we moved to Richmond where we lived for 24 years before he passed away on July 5, 2013, at the age of 85. He had suffered for 14 years with prostate cancer. I continue to live here in Richmond in an independent living apartment.  Being 102 years old, I can say it has been an exciting life and I am very grateful for the life God has given me.

     Congratulations to Cave Spring Baptist Church for the 150 years of ministry you have given to that area of Roanoke. Keep on Keeping on!

Love,

                                                                                        Frances Bailey

Happy 150th Anniversary CSBC!!!

I have so many memories as the preacher’s (Rolen Bailey) daughter growing up in the ‘60s & ‘70s. When we first came to Cave Spring the parsonage was next to the church. I probably have been around the church parking lot more times than I can count since Dad taught me how to ride my bike there. When the parsonage was being moved  in 1963, my class at school had a ‘field trip’ to see it up on steel beams getting ready to cross the field and on up Rosecrest Road. One day I came home from school and the house was gone! I found it… and my Mom (Frances Bailey) in the middle & halfway up Rosecrest. It was absolutely fascinating!  I remember that Virginia Wimmer provided her trailer for our family to live in while the parsonage was being moved.

One event was when the church did a This Is Your Life for my Dad. I was given a beautiful doll… by Virginia Wimmer. I still have it to this day!

The most important events that affected my life was when my sister, Nancy Lou, passed away. She was 7 months old, and I was 7.  The last week she was in the hospital, I was in Vacation Bible School and had made my profession of faith. Two days before she died I was baptized by my Pastor…my Dad.  Not until I was an adult did I truly realize how these two experiences affected my Dad and how he & my Mom were ministered to by the caring congregation of CSBC. I remember the love and care that I received as well.  I had a few ‘Mommas’ that helped care for me up through college and beyond…I have much love and respect for them all. My very special bonus ‘Momma’ was June Haynes and her family.

I got through my teenage years, and I know a lot of folks in the congregation that had quite an influence on me. I also am very thankful, and incredibly grateful for all the summer Youth Pastors we had.  I love the friends that I grew up with and still communicate with to this day.  I cherish the memories of Eagle Eyrie, Smith Mt Lake, Mission Centers, Singspirations, Lendy’s…oh my, I could go on & on!

Mom, my brother John Bailey, and I all live in the Richmond, Virginia area. I’m married, have a stepdaughter & 3 grandsons. I’m retired but seem to stay quite busy!  Mom, at age 102, keeps us hopping! We are very blessed to still have her in our lives.

Thank you Cave Spring Baptist Church for being such a significant part of my life. Continue to be what God has called you for.  Continue to share Christ with each other, to the community, and to the world that surrounds you.

Blessings,

Patty Bailey Spragg

My parents, Ray and Irene Varney, and both sets of grandparents were members of Cave Spring. I was baptized there in 1969 at the age of ten. Three of the most important events in my life took place there. I met Katie Vaughn in the singles Sunday School Class, she asked me to go to the fall festival bon fire with her and we were married there eleven months later. We are now attending the Church of the Holy Spirit but Cave Spring will always be our home church. We live off of 221 so I ride past the church every day. When I pass I always think of the good times there, but more importantly, the good people and the positive influence those people have had on me, my family and the community.