On the first Sunday of January 1979, Keith and Yvonne Davey met for the first time with several believers to establish the Colonial Baptist Church of Virginia Beach, Virginia. Several months later in October, the church held its charter service, and 30 members signed the new church charter. From 1979 to 1984, the church met at the Green Run Elementary School in Virginia Beach on Sundays, and in 1983 they began their Wednesday Evening Prayer Services and AWANA ministry in rented facilities in the Green Run area of Virginia Beach at St. Mark United Methodist Church.

In 1982, Daniel and Martha Davey accepted a call to this young church, and Daniel began serving as the associate pastor to his father on July 1. In the summer of 1983, the church purchased 10 acres of land on Centerville Turnpike, and in 1984 built its first building. In 1987 a second building was added which included a gymnasium to accommodate the needs of the growing church.

History1a History3

In October of 1987, Keith Davey, prompted by the desire to spend more time in his role with Missions To Military, resigned as the senior pastor of the church effective January 1, 1988. In March 1988 Daniel accepted the unanimous call of the church to the position of senior pastor.

In 1989 the church renovated its sanctuary to accommodate its growth, and because of continued growth the church held two morning services from 1990 to 1994. During this time (June 1993) the church acquired an 8,000-sq. ft. modular building (the Nehemiah Building) to accommodate the needed children’s classroom space. In 1995 the church gymnasium was converted into a sanctuary, and the old sanctuary was divided into a Chapel and Office Complex.

History2 History4

In 1996, Central Baptist Theological Seminary opened its doors under the leadership and vision of Daniel Davey, and in 1997 the church finished a building project to house the seminary classes and library. This building project also included a new gymnasium with locker rooms and a commercial kitchen.

During this “growing and building time” the church has continually focused on increasing its mission efforts around the world. CBC has also planted two local daughter churches: one in the Oceana area of Virginia Beach (August 2002), and the other as a revitalization work in the historic city of Williamsburg (May 2005).

In April 2006, the church finished another major building project that included an additional 250 parking spaces, a two-story adult education building (which also became the new home for Central Baptist Theological Seminary), and the renovating of the former CBTS space into a Youth Room. In 2013 the seminary name was changed to Virginia Beach Theological Seminary.

New Aud History Squares Ed Bldg History Squares

After 33 years of pastoral ministry at Colonial, Pastor Daniel Davey retired on Sunday, August 23, 2015, in order to focus his energy on the full-time presidency of Virginia Beach Theological Seminary. CBC began a search for a new senior pastor under the interim leadership of Pastor Jim Newcomer.

On July 31, 2016, Pastor Brent Belford was installed as the 3rd senior pastor of Colonial Baptist Church. Brent and his wife Carissa moved to Virginia Beach from Minneapolis, MN along with their five children: Emma, Andrew, Eden, Chloe, and Levi.