On June 5, two churches gathered in Tuscaloosa to celebrate homecoming. For one, Eastern Hills Baptist Church, the celebration was bittersweet, filled with fond memories of the past but also sadness that this Sunday was the church’s last time to meet.
For New Eastern Hills Baptist Church, the celebration held the promise of a bright future, as it was receiving a building in which to meet — in a neighborhood ripe for ministry.
Jim Phillips, a deacon at Eastern Hills, said church membership had been declining as the neighborhood around the church has changed from primarily Caucasian to primarily black.
Phillips said that while the church, led by Interim Pastor Wayne Hoggle, had tried a variety of approaches to reach out to the community, those efforts had not been successful.
After many months of prayer and deliberation, Eastern Hills’ 22 active members voted to disband the congregation and turn the church building and property over to Tuscaloosa Baptist Association.
Phillips said both the church and association began looking for a black Baptist pastor or church that could use the property, in hopes that a new congregation could better reach the community.
It was Eastern Hills’ hope that a recipient could be found before their final service so the transfer could be made during the homecoming celebration.
As it happened, the sort of church Eastern Hills had in mind had been meeting in the local YMCA and had applied for membership in Tuscaloosa Association.
At the conclusion of the June 5 service, Jerry Wilkins, director of missions for the association, presided over a ceremony transferring ownership of the church to the fledgling 25-member New Eastern Hills Baptist Church — named in honor of Eastern Hills Baptist.
Members of both congregations expressed faith in God’s timing in bringing about this transfer of property.
New Eastern Hills Pastor Phillip Sterling said his congregation “is thankful to Eastern Hills Baptist Church, to the association and, mainly, to God for such a wonderful gift.”
He and his congregation “would like for lives to be touched, people to be healed and delivered and for everyone to someday look back and know that God’s will had surely been done in this place.”
In his homecoming service sermon, former Eastern Hills pastor Robert Reed stressed that “God has been glorified in this place, and He will continue to be glorified.”
He urged members of both congregations to “plant and water and trust God for the increase.”
Along with looking to the future, Eastern Hills members paid homage to the past, as charter members Billie Hannah, Freida Lawrence and Floy Ethel Bircheat recalled the baptisms and weddings of their children as well as other times of joy and grief shared by the small church family. Each woman spoke of the intense love they felt for other church members.
The church was also the place where Phillips’ wife, Denise, found a place where she could reach out to others.
Because many of the church members are seniors, Denise Phillips began helping the women do things they had wanted to do but were not able to do.
She also found ways to use her computer to serve, producing the church’s Sunday bulletin. “God put us here for a reason, and I’ve enjoyed every second of it,” Denise Phillips said.
And although as Lawrence said, “It kind of puts a hurt on your heart” to know that an era of rich history and heritage has come to an end, Eastern Hills members are also looking forward.
John Wiggins, a former youth pastor who was present for the celebration, said according to Colossians 1:17, “‘Christ is before all things and He is sustaining all things,’ and so it’s just seeing how the Lord can sustain these people as they go different ways.
“Christ is the bond, the glue, that connects them,” Wiggins said. “Christ is so real to them, and I know they will find places to serve.”
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