More than a year and a half after arsonists burned nine Baptist churches in the state, some of those small congregations in west Alabama are still collecting themselves.
So area Baptists in Pickens Baptist Association have decided to pitch in and do some of that collecting for one church’s special project in particular.
According to Gary Farley, Pickens Association director of missions, one of the things that Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church near Boligee wanted to do when rebuilding “was to have a room that would be used as a library and also as place for the kids in the community to come and use computers and so forth.”
So Pickens Association is trying to collect as many books for children and teenagers as it can.
“What we wanted to do is to invite folks to send books (to the associational office) that would be appropriate for kids in grade school and high school that could be placed in the library and utilized there,” Farley said.
Reaching out
The rebuilding process at Morning Star Missionary Baptist is a project Pickens Association has assisted in since the fire, as well as helping three other nearby churches affected by the fires that made national headlines in February 2006. One of those churches, Galilee Baptist in Panola, recently dedicated its new sanctuary and is in the process of joining Pickens Association.
According to Farley, several of the affected churches, which are located in largely rural areas, are taking steps to develop more active ministries during the week, in addition to Sunday services, as an outreach to their community. He cites Morning Star’s proposed library as an example.
Geraldine Sands, secretary and clerk for Morning Star, said the church’s new building is 75 percent complete. The congregation has been meeting for nearly 20 months in mobile chapels provided by the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions.
As for the library, “[i]t’s not going to be real big, maybe 12-by-18 feet, with book shelves on both sides of the wall, round tables (and) maybe even a 10-foot table going across,” Sands said. “Some books had come in early on, shortly after the church burned, but it was mostly Bibles and … hymn books and inspirational reading books.”
She said what is needed most are children’s books, which Pickens Association is trying to collect before the church completes its building.
“[W]e’re just trying to get as many as we can,” Sands said.
To donate books, call Farley at 205-367-8632.
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