Cork, Olene

Deerfoot Baptist Church, Trussville
Birmingham Baptist Association

Olene Cork started singing in the choir at South Avondale Baptist Church, Birmingham, in 1945. She continued to sing in the choir when she later became a member of 85th Street Baptist Church in the Birmingham area, which merged with Mount Olive Baptist Church and is now Deerfoot Baptist Church, Trussville. Recently she was recognized at church for her 65-year involvement in choir and 35 years of assisting with Meals on Wheels.

Q: What was your childhood like?
A: I can’t remember not going to church. I was always in church. We went to Skirum Baptist Church on top of Sand Mountain, which is where I grew up. I left there after graduating from high school to come to work in Birmingham.

Q: How did you come to know the Lord?
A: I was very young — I think I was about 10 years old. It was during a revival meeting at our church, and I’ve been a Christian ever since.

Q: How have you been involved in church through the years?
A: We didn’t have many youth activities in the church where I grew up, but I was in something like Sunbeams (now Mission Friends). I taught a Sunday School class of 16-year-old girls at South Avondale at one time, then I taught another class of young girls at 85th Street Baptist. My involvement has mostly been in the choir and with Meals on Wheels, but I’m now involved in Baptist Women (also known as Women on Mission) and I’m a member of the Martha Sunday School Class.

Q: What have you gotten from that involvement?
A: I think it’s helped me to mature as a Christian. I think everything you do like that helps you to grow. I know teaching always helped me more than the ones I taught. When you teach, you have to study so hard, and you learn a lot from it.

Q: How do you see yourself involved in church in the future?
A: I’m still doing and I still go to church on Sunday mornings, Sunday nights and Wednesday nights. So I’ll keep trying to participate anytime I can. I’m also on a daytime GROW visitation team, where we go out and visit prospects or people who have visited the church. I think it’s a good program, and I plan to keep taking part in that.

Q: What does the Christian life mean to you?
A: It’s keeping close to the Lord and trying to do everything you can do to follow His leadership.