Fifty years ago, a dairy farm sat on the land in Bluff Park, near Birmingham, where Shades Crest Baptist Church is now located.
“What used to be fertile soil for animals is now a fertile field for growing a church and Christians,” said Billie Ruth Harrison, one of the church’s 119 charter members.
“[The church] is everything our group dreamed we’d be,” she said. “We felt strongly that the area up here would grow, and we could see that our church would also grow.”
Half a century later, the 1,600-member church is celebrating its golden anniversary in May.
“Our theme for this year is ‘Our Jubilee Year: A Golden Time to Grow,’” said Pastor Dennis Foust. “In the Old Testament the year of jubilee was a time of remembering, giving thanks and looking forward.”
Working together
The church’s beginnings were truly a group effort. Southside Baptist Church, Birmingham, bought the property. Samford University and Dawson Memorial Baptist Church, Birmingham, helped the church get started.
To commemorate, Shades Crest is having joint worship services with Southside, Dawson and Samford. Shades Crest also donated $50,000 to help start the Fellowship of the Valley church in Shannon.
Members are also writing a 160-page book on the church’s history, and Foust is incorporating many aspects of the anniversary and the church’s history into a sermon series.
“We’ve turned the whole year into a celebration,” said Foust. “In January, the first initiative was to install James Auchmuty, who was pastor for 27 years, as pastor emeritus.”
Auchmuty, who served from 1972 to 1999, is currently pastor of First Baptist Church, Roebuck Plaza.
“For more than half of Shades Crest’s history, Dr. Auchmuty’s heart, mind and spirit shaped our life as a church,” Foust said.
To preserve the church’s history and make members more aware of their heritage, a few members decided to put together a book about the church. Bill and Audrey Cowley, who have been members since 1977, are spearheading the effort to compile and write the church’s history.
The hardback book, a compilation of church records, minutes, eyewitness accounts and newspaper clippings, will be available at the official anniversary celebration in May.
“People have been helpful and have brought photos and contributed memories,” said Audrey Cowley.
According to Bill Cowley, the church’s love for missions is a recurring theme that has surfaced during the research for the book.
“From the beginning, the church has been committed to missions,” he said. “Before the organized church existed they went on record as saying they wanted to give at least 10 percent to missions. We were missional before we knew what that word meant.”
In the spring, the church hopes to launch a new program where it will work toward having a direct partnership with at least one missions enterprise on each continent.
Reflection of church
Another component of the anniversary celebration is a worship sermon series Foust is presenting from January through April focusing on and honoring the stained glass windows in the church sanctuary.
“They tell the story of the life of Christ and His teachings,” he said. “They are such a good reflection of Shades Crest as a relational congregation. They really focus on people.”
Drawings of the windows, commissioned in the late 1980s, are also available for framing.
Another way of commemorating the past is the pictorial histories made of each decade since Shades Crest Church was founded. Each month a collage is made with a group of photos from each decade. The photos and captions are compiled, framed and hung in the church hallway outside the sanctuary.
“They’re a fun reminder of former members and activities in the life of the church,” Foust said.
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