Oakwood Community Church was initially a hope and dream in the minds of several Joelton area settlers at the end of the turn of the 20th Century (1900).  Residents in the west Joelton area began meeting regularly for worship around 1903 under brush arbors near the corner of Clarksville Dirt Pike (now Old Clarksville Pike) and Pinnacle Road (now Old Pinnacle Road).  D. J. Johns started the movement leading to Oakwood’s organization as a congregation and eventual construction of the current sanctuary in 1905.  Before this, the group of worshiping families would move into members’ tobacco barns for church services when the weather was raining or too cold for sitting in the brush arbors. The cornerstone of the sanctuary building was laid in the spring of 1905. By the fall of that year, the building was ready for indoor service with a full-time preacher.  By October, eighteen members joined 'Oakwood' - named after the many tall oak trees surrounding the building.

          

Oakwood eventually joined with other nearby Methodist Churches to form what eventually became the Joelton Charge, consisting of Oakwood, Forest Grove, Martin’s Chapel and Greenville United Methodist Churches.  All four churches shared one pastor who preached at two of the churches on alternate Sundays.  One of the pastors during this era rode a horse to the churches and on one occasion experienced riding a bicycle.

 

A parsonage was built in 1911 near Oakwood Church. Men from all four churches helped with the building process, donating their labor.  Before the parsonage was built the pastor(s) had a room and ate their meals with a family near Oakwood.  The original parsonage was sold and in 1989 Oakwood built a new parsonage.

 

Five Sunday school rooms were added to the NW side of the Oakwood sanctuary in 1929.  A full basement was added in 1960 to serve as a fellowship hall. Central heat, air conditioning, and storm windows were added in 1978 as well as the addition of a new adjacent stand-alone building with restrooms and six Sunday school rooms. This building is named 'Master’s Hall' in memory of former pastors, Wayne and Doyle Masters, who were brothers. The mortgage burning ceremony for the building occurred at the Annual Homecoming in 1980.  A vestibule to the sanctuary was added in 1982.  A church sign was added and aluminum siding was added to the sanctuary in 1983. The fellowship hall was renovated and remodeled in 2003 with new kitchen cabinets and appliances. In 2010 the children’s play tower was refurbished and enhanced with fencing and rubber mulch.

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In 2023, Oakwood left the Methodist charge to establish a new structure that would better serve the people in the Joelton Community, and is now known as Oakwood Community Church. Oakwood’s current outreach ministry includes support of the Joelton Hope Center and the Emmanuel Outreach Project.