History
Grace Baptist Church April 12, 1942
Grace Baptist Church began some 65 years ago with forty-nine charter members and Pastor C. W. Fogleman. The Church was a wood framed structure that was built for $5,000 as was completed in late December. On January 3, 1943, the first service was held with Dr. Sam Rushing, pastor of Istrouma Baptist Church, as the guest speaker. On October 1, 1947 the church was ravaged by fire.
In the spring of 1948 a new auditorium was built and is still the meeting place of the congregration.
Then and ................................................now
Our History as recorded on our 55th anniversary
This chronicle of the fifty-fifth (55th) year in the continuing history of Grace Baptist Church is dedicated to those wonderful pioneers who, with divine guidance, created it, sustained it in adversity, and were responsible for its deep roots and solid foundation. They nurtured an idea into a dream, and the dream, with God’s Grace, became reality. So they built their dream church, dedicated it to the teachings and worship of God and named it “Grace” from which it came.
I was not present nor was I privileged to be involved in the God-given birth of Grace Baptist Church 55 years ago, but through fate I was privileged to become, along with my family, a member of it. When my wife and I chose to build our home in this community, we were members of one of the larger churches of worship. Since we were in the process of raising our family, we wished to do it in the same environment we grew up in; a smaller family-oriented, community-supported church. We found Grace Baptist Church -- the rest is part of our history.
In the ever changing flux and flow of lifestyles in the history of our country, Grace Baptist Church was conceived and nurtured in a strong sense of family and community service to God. It remains the same today -- Amen!! In this spirit, on April 12, 1992, the church sponsored a huge celebration highlighting the 50th anniversary of its founding. Months of dedicated work by both committees and individuals produced a truly memorable and heartwarming occasion of remembering, renewal and rejoicing. The response by members and guests alike was overwhelming and a fitting tribute to those who planned and executed it with such loving care.
Some of the highlights included the presence of the church’s original pastor, the Reverend C. W. Fogleman, who reminisced on the early years of struggle and the rewards and many blessings of its success.
Reverend John Harris, who had furnished such wonderfully warm and kind leadership during our changing middle years, preached a sermon that embodied the true Christian spirit of our celebration. It reinforced our love and respect for him. Following the sermon, a bountiful luncheon was served, an absolute must at any Baptist gathering, large or small. This in turn was followed by a 2:00 PM service of uplifting and soul serving music and numerous testimonials by members and former members. The receiving theme was the impact of and results Grace Church had in their lives. Amen!
Those events reawakened us and renewed our sense of the strong bonds of brotherhood we still shared with these former members and leaders of our church family.
A fitting summary may be listing some of the blessings, realized in the wake of this event:
The boundless fellowship we enjoyed.
The renewal and rewarming of old friendships.
The knowledge that fruitful seeds from Grace Baptist Church have been nurtured and taken root in many places. And above all, to say that our spirits were not uplifted and our souls immeasurably affected by the celebration, is to say that we are not mindful of God’s wonderful grace.
In December 1992, we at Grace Church had another of our sad/glad historical adjustments to face and adapt to...Our much loved and admired pastor, Dr. Kelly Fitzgerald, and his wife, Frances, were retiring after 21 years of tireless and inspirational leadership in devotion to and teaching of God’s meaning and purpose in our lives. We were, admittedly, selfishly sad for this great leadership loss to our church.
But a lot of us, being retirees ourselves, could relate to them becoming active retirees in their turn. And we were glad for and prayerful that it would be a much deserved and rewarding experience for them.
A church-wide reception was held for them and attended by fellow pastors, a number of dignitaries, every church member able to attend and many of their friends from other activities and interests. Dr. Kelly preached his farewell sermon with a theme that embodied the spirit of this occasion. In return we presented a love offering and a litany of individual and collective good wishes and heartfelt thanks -- especially thankful for his kind, cheerful and amazingly skillful guidance through our “graying” years.
January 1993 Dr. Tommy Sinclair was called as our interim pastor and ministered to us during the following “search” period.
The search committee appointed at this time consisted of the chairman, Van Cochran, and members Kate Alford, LeRee Bateman, Sylvia Simmons and Jim Ballard. The church was aware of the need for an influx of new members including young families and children to foster the future growth of our church. The committee addressed our needs in this area by concentrating the search toward finding a vigorous young pastor who might provide this attraction to younger prospective members while still addressing the ministerial needs of the older members. While this search was in progress, the parsonage was enjoying a face-lift of some remodeling, painting, floor refinishing, and general refurbishing.
June 1993 the search committee reported their tentative choice to be Reverend David Toxey of Alabama. The deacon body in turn submitted it to the membership for a vote of acceptance, which was positive. Reverend Toxey was called to Grace Baptist Church as pastor, effective August 1, 1993, and the church voted to pay the moving expense for him and his family.
In preparation for the arrival of the Toxey family, the refrigerator, freezer and pantry were stocked by donations of food and money. On arrival everyone made the Toxey family welcome.
One of Reverend Toxey’s first innovations was the children’s sermon, conducted each Sunday morning during the regular service. Mrs. Donna Toxey, the pastor’s wife, supervised the youth activities, planned trips and drove the church van on these outings.
Also, in this period the Vacation Bible School hours were changed to the evening hours of 6:00 - 8:00 PM to accommodate the volunteer workers.
Reverend Toxey was enrolled in the New Orleans Seminary and received his Master of Divinity degree in May 1994. A reception was hosted by the church to celebrate this occasion.
In April 1994 the church helped the First Baptist Church of Gramercy through a period of financial troubles, with monthly donations for a period of six months.
Dr. Jim Ballard was elected chairman of the deacons.
June 7, 1995, Mr. Mark Bruner was hired as pianist.
August 20, 1995, Reverend David Toxey resigned as pastor of Grace Baptist Church to return to the First Baptist Church of Pleasant Grove, Alabama.
Our pulpit was filled by “supply” preachers until the month of December.
November 1995 we retired the debt on our Fellowship Hall.
December 1995 the Reverend Ace McVay was called as our interim pastor.
Also, at this time another search committee was formed with Kate Alford as chairperson, Norris Crawford, LeRee Bateman, Sylvia Simmons, and Bill Carrigan. Also, two alternates, Dorothy Middleton and Lynn King, were named to this committee.
March 1996 the church called the Reverend Ace McVay as our pastor and a new era began. His energetic and outgoing approach to all phases and levels of his ministry, including the scope of his sermons, answered many of our hopes and prayers. This took care of the needs of our souls. However, he, being of like mind, also actively pursued another endeavor dear to the hearts and stomachs of all Baptists -- large quantities of good food. He sponsored a huge barbeque, then a crawfish boil, both of which were culinary triumphs that could be referred to, facetiously, as “soul food.”
The men’s fellowship group was formed and meets every Tuesday morning in the Fellowship Hall for coffee, biscuits, sausage and high-grade truth rearrangement. It is open to all comers, churchmen and guests, visitors, friends, or anyone who wishes to drop in -- you are welcome. Just bring your appetite and a few interesting yarns.
For the ladies interested in ceramics, molds, materials and instructions are available.
On the more serious side of our purpose, Norris Crawford was elected chairman of the deacons. Truett Thorn and Mark Bruner were elected as deacons and arrangements were made for ordination.
Roger Dutsch retired as financial secretary after one of the longest, most faithful, tireless, and cheerful services to the church’s needs. Lynn King was voted in as our new financial secretary.
The greatest blessing of all for this period in our present era of history is the addition of twenty plus (20+) members to our church. Amen!
Improvements to our physical church were the paving of the south parking lot in February 1997 and the installation of the portico over the front entrance in March 1997. The construction and installation was a gift to the church from Mr. Milton Womack and Mr. & Mrs. Hamric Holloway.
A committee was formed to update the constitution and by-laws of the church. Kate Alford was chairperson and other members were Hamric Holloway, John Langley, and Shirley Gilbert. This was the first update in the past 21 years.
To complete our history of this period we include the scope and impact of our Ministry of Music, its place and importance to our church.
Throughout this period and dating back to 1988, Stephen Nelson was the guiding and directing force in this ministry. He has been ably assisted by the talented and faithful members of our choir, Fran Scallan at the organ, and Mark Bruner at the piano.
The special musical arrangements presented by the choir are always beautiful. The solos and duets sung by Steve Nelson and his equally talented wife, Kimberly, in their God-given talented voices, are literally “music to the soul.”
In conclusion, this writer feels he has a “right” to editorialize somewhat.
We have a habit, out of pride for the place where we worship, of referring to “our” or “my” church.
In my estimation, two of the most important God-given gifts to mankind, are a conscience and a sense of humor, in that order. If we listen to our conscience, it will lead us to do that which is right in the sight of God. Our sense of humor will prevent us from letting our egos override our conscience.
THIS IS GOD’S CHURCH -- those two gifts should always remind us!
By Anonymous
