The roots for Oakhurst Baptist Church in Decatur, Ga. were nurtured in a neighborhood Sunday School started in 1908, followed by a community revival which evolved into weekly worship services. In 1912 the attending Methodists became a church, and on August 31, 1913, Oakhurst Baptist Church organized.

For about three years the congregations shared a building on Melrose Avenue. Following that, the small, struggling Oakhurst Baptist Church met in homes and more than once considered disbanding. In 1920 the church, renewed in spirit, pitched a tent in the backyard of charter member Mrs. Georgia Johnston, and later moved the tent to recently purchased lots at 222 East Lake Drive and Third Avenue, Oakhurst's present location.

By the fall of 1921, members had constructed a wooden building on Third Avenue. Additions were made with growth. Nine pastors served the congregation through 1929. Then in 1930 A. B. Couch began his thirteen-year pastorate. In this period Oakhurst built in three stages the facility now occupied: the basement beneath the sanctuary in 1933; the sanctuary in 1937, and the educational addition in 1942.

Lewie H. Miller came as pastor in 1943. Following World War II and national recommitments to God, Oakhurst flourished along with other congregations. The church outgrew all available space and purchased the nearby 6.5 acre property on West College Avenue. T. E. Dougherty became pastor in 1954 and led in the construction of two units of a planned four-unit facility. During this period the congregation also sponsored a number of Cuban refugee families fleeing the Castro regime.

Oakhurst had been a traditional Southern Baptist Church, but that changed along with the racially transitional community and the coming of Pastor John Nichol in 1966. Through the influence of his preaching, the congregation welcomed in 1968 the first Afro-Americans as members, contrary to the action of most other churches. The church developed a clearer sense of its identity, expressing it 1974 in the adoption of a Church Covenant. Declining membership and financial support made necessary some plan for paying the indebtedness on the new buildings the College Avenue property was leased to Southern Bell and all church activities moved back to East Lake Drive. Income from the long-term lease paid for the property provided capital improvements and funds for mission projects. The telephone company bought the College Avenue property in the fall of 1994.

In the late 1970s Oakhurst began using a liturgical form of worship, and this intensified under the pastorate of Mel Williams from 1980 to 1988. In these years, Hospitality House, a residence for homeless men, was established. In 1987 Oakhurst affiliated with the newly formed Alliance of Baptists and two years later with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Lanny Peters, the present pastor, came in 1989 and influenced the church to align with the American Baptist Churches. (see Affiliations).