Arlington is a church family that loves God, finds joy in sharing with one another, and has a heart for reaching others with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, both here at home and around the world.

If you are looking for a church home or seeking to find the answer to a spiritual need in your life, we would truly desire to come to know you, and have you come to know us. However, most of all, we would want you to come to know our wonderful Lord and Savior, either for the first time or in renewed fellowship.

The Reverend G.L. Merrill, Pastor of the North Rocky Mount Baptist, having a missionary background saw the need for a Baptist church in the southern part of Rocky Mount in the year of 1905. He canvassed the people in the area and consulted with the Pastor and leadership of the First Baptist Church, after which a letter was written to the State Board.

A building lot which was located on the corner of Arlington and Bassett Streets was purchased in 1905. The building for the Church was completed in 1907 at a total cost of $1,700. A total of nineteen charter members came forward for membership, nine men and ten women. The Sunday School program started on February 3, 1907. By the end of 1908 a total of 133 members had enrolled. Arlington Baptist Church from the beginning has been a Cooperating Southern Baptist Church.

Due to the size of the membership, in August 1922 the frame building had to be replaced in order to provide larger facilities for worship. The new brick building was dedicated March 22, 1936 after the depression years. The next major expansion did not occur until the construction of a new educational building in 1953.

Having completed its mission on Arlington Street, the membership in 1987 voted to relocate to the corner of Bethlehem and Old Mill Roads. The first service conducted in the new fellowship hall was October 1, 1989. Subsequently, the membership voted to erect a sanctuary which was occupied in March of 1994. Due to the membership growth in the Sunday School program, additional adult Sunday School facilities were built and first occupied on June 7, 1998. At present time, we are in process of building a new pre-school, children, and youth, ministry center. We are anticipating dedicating this new facility in the spring of 2007.

In the last few years we have added more programs to our Church including the FAITH program and the AWANA program, along with more discipleship training emphasis in order to equip our people to reach our community for Christ.

During the past ninety-nine years, there have been many saints to provide the way, including a total of fifteen pastors and several interim pastors who have been shepherd leaders of Arlington Baptist Church. The current Pastor of our Church is Dr. William L. Tomlinson who has been faithfully serving this congregation for nineteen years. Under his leadership we strive to live up to the mission for which we all hold true. “The mission of Arlington Baptist Church is to reach unbelievers by proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ and to nurture believers in spiritual growth, biblical knowledge, faith, and Christian service."