There never was time then molecules-to-man evolutionism or millions/billions of years stories ever were more than stories. They were always made-up stories supported by arbitrary assumptions, irrational statements and outright lies. However, it is really sad that many in the church were so in awe of the word, "science," that they never took the time to check out the so-called science behind these stories. They just accepted them as science without investigating. Had they taken the time to look into the matter, they would have known that these stories were and are baseless. See Gullible Christians and Students

"When evolution is seen as a storytelling game rather than a serious attempt at scientific explanation, it suddenly makes sense."

In the 1400s, geology was interpreted as evidence of Noah’s flood and short time scale for the existence of the Earth.  In the 1700s, gradual Unitarianism geology was introduced and successfully sold by the Atheist lawyer, Charles Lyell.  The old Earth belief was popularized among scientists in the years following.  As a result, a split took place in the Church where some believed in a literal Genesis and others followed a doctrine that they labelled as "Christian Agnostics," where they followed only the basic teachings of Christianity but claimed that nothing could be known, even if it was in the Bible, beyond those few basics. 

Around 1770, the "Closed Bible Approach" to understanding science was introduced.  Shortly after this, scientists began arranging the fossils to support old Earth beliefs. 

In the late 1700s and early 1800s, the Gap Theory and Day Age Theory were introduced into some denominations as a way to insert Atheistic old-Earth geology into the Bible. 

In 1859, the famous Atheist, Charles Darwin, popularized his Theory of Evolution with Thomas Huxley helping to market the idea.  Some denominations then introduced Theistic Evolution as a way to insert Atheistic Evolution into the Bible. 

In the early 1900s, Chalmers made an effort to sell the Gap Theory.  About this same time, the fossil order began to be used as claimed proof that evolution actually happened.  Around 1920, radiometric dating methods were put forward as proof of evolution and an old Earth.  At about the same time, flood geology began to gain in popularity because of new scientific information. 

In 1980, flood geology gained popularity among educated protestants.  Since that time, more of an effort has been made to get the word out on dating methods such as radiometric dating, that these are not reliable, that they are largely used in an unscientific way, and that all dating methods are based on circular reasoning.  More fossils have been discovered and we now know that every kind of animal is found in every layer.  The fossil record appears to be sorted in a way that supports a global catastrophic flood.  Global geology also supports the flood and causes great problems for the old Earth story.   The same is true of astronomy.