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The information below
is from documentation of papers in possession of Pam Moore, granddaughter of Walter Wade
and Audrey (Tompkins) Ezzell that she inherited from her grandparents.
This is about the Belgreen Baptist Church. I do not know who
wrote it.
Belgreen Baptist Church
In 1947 the spring of, a young man from Franklin County had gone to Detroit, Michigan, to
find work in an industry. The first pay day prompted this young man to hear a call
“Come over into Macedonia and help us”. He sent a check for $25.00 (a big amount
in 1947) to his aunt, Mrs. Arthur Williams of Belgreen, and told her to use the money to
help spread the message of Christ here. Mrs. Williams was interested in a in a Baptist
Church in Belgreen for there had never been one in the little town. She talked to a few
Baptists and on the following Sunday, a group of interested men, women, and children met
under a tree in Mr. Joe Thorne’s pasture behind the school building for Sunday
School.
Soon others joined them and by winter, the group asked permission from the Belgreen Masons
to meet on the First floor of their two story building. A first grade class of Belgreen
School was having classes there also, but on Sunday afternoons this group of Baptists
moved the school equipment back against the wall and set up 25 folding chairs. Mrs.
Maurice Cobb from Russellville taught a Sunday school class and Rev. Wooten, pastor of
First Baptist Church, Red Bay, preached to the group.
Mrs. Arthur Williams had a friend, Mr. J. W. Rogers at Vina, whom she invited to come to
the Baptist assembly in Belgreen one Sunday. Mr. Rogers, who was interested in church
work, challenged the group to raise money for building. For every $500 raised, he would
give $100 By Christmas of 1947, the group had raised $1000, and Mr. Rogers gave $200.
In the summer of 1948, a lot was bought in north Belgreen from Mr. Bob Bolton, and a block
building was erected. In August of that year the mission, Rev. Victor Clayton as pastor,
was dedicated, as a Baptist Church.
Today, that block building has been brick veneered, the auditorium, having been enlarged
25 feet in length, has cushioned pews, wall to wall carpeting, an organ and a piano, a
baptistery with a beautiful Jordan River scene which was painted by Miss Helen Mitchell
and Mrs. Ester Shewbart.
A two story brick annex added to the back of the original building comprises 6 Sunday
School rooms and a rest room down stairs, 2 class rooms, a large Fellowship Hall and well
equipped kitchen, and two rest rooms on the upper floor, all carpeted.
The present membership is 74 with a full time pastor, Rev. Jim Abston. So a young
man’s dream, together with willing workers, prayers, faith, and he grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ, became a reality. The Belgreen Baptist Church, Belgreen, Alabama, stands as
a testimonial of some one who heard the call “Come over into Macedonia and help
us” .
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