For some Alabama Baptist churches, a stroll down memory lane can be more than perusing a scrapbook.
That is if they participate in an old-fashioned Sunday — a day that offers church members a chance to dress as congregations of the past while they enjoy dinner on the grounds, covered-dish lunches and all-day singings.
Antioch West Baptist Church in Butler Baptist Association celebrated its 150th birthday with a Founders Day celebration April 21, featuring church members dressed as the congregation in 1852. The adults and youth wore long dresses and overalls, while the small children donned pinafores and pantaloons. In the afternoon, they had dinner on the grounds.
North Glencoe Baptist Church, Etowah Baptist Association, chose a covered-dish supper to go along with its old-fashioned Sunday July 21.
“We had scheduled The Old Time Gospel Hour Quartet to come,” said David Denson, North Glencoe’s interim pastor. “Since we had the quartet coming, we built a theme around it and had Old-fashioned Day 2002.”
Denson said church members dressed in old-fashioned clothes and two of them gave their testimonies during the service. A woman in her 20s shared about a missions trip to Spain and an older man shared about God’s work in his life.
“[The day] really brought the church together,” Denson said. “It expounded and celebrated how God is working in all generations of the church.”
Old-fashioned Sundays are also a way to remember past members and their values and wisdom. Larry DeGarmo, pastor of Adamsville Baptist Church, Birmingham Baptist Association, said, “It’s an effective way to emphasize our roots and history and the old-fashioned morals that seemed to be more prevalent in our society that aren’t now.”
Adamsville’s old-fashioned Sunday July 7 grew out of a number of old-time songs the choir was singing.
Music director Richard Grigsby said, “When I introduced the idea to the choir, they suggested we come in old-time dress, and it just took off from there. Originally it was just going to be the choir [who dressed up], but everybody else wanted to get in on the fun, too. One lady even wore her grandmother’s shoes.”
DeGarmo said although the day was a bit unusual, it was a success.
“It’s definitely a good way to emphasize the wisdom of our grandmothers and grandfathers,” DeGarmo said. “They have godly wisdom and a lot to teach us.”
Grigsby said it had been awhile since the church had had an old-fashioned day, but the day’s success may make it an annual event. “Next time we might try to plan it a little better,” he added, “but it might not be as much fun as the spontaneous day was.”
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