Over the course of 100 years, a church that began with 17 charter members has grown to 2,345 resident members.
That church — First Baptist, Pelham — celebrated its centennial anniversary Aug. 23 with at least 1,200 people in attendance.
That day, the Shelby Baptist Association church received a certificate of recognition for 100 years of ministry, presented by Director of Missions Hugh Richardson Jr., and plaques from the Shelby County Historical Society and the Alabama Baptist Historical Commission.
Three former pastors spoke during the service: Cecil Brown, who served from 1954 until 1957; Ronnie Euler, who served from 1966 until 1974; and Jerry Butler, who served from 1974 until 1978.
That undoubtedly pleased 88-year-old Louella Honeycutt.
“I have enjoyed all the pastors we have had all these years,” said Honeycutt, who has been a member of the church almost all of her life.
Jim Lee pointed to the spirit of the congregation as a reason for the church’s longevity.
“I think it’s a great congregation. It’s really been progressive,” said Lee, who grew up in the church and was a member for 20 years.
Discussion of starting First, Pelham, began in the late 1880s, but the church wouldn’t be established for a while, said Pat MacKay, ministry assistant to Pastor Mike Shaw.
It was August 1909 before First, Pelham, was accepted as a member of Shelby Association.
During its first 10 years, the church struggled to survive because of its rural location, ceasing to meet from time to time. So members worshiped with local Methodist church members in various homes.
In the early 1930s, Lee’s father, John P. Lee, and a few other men in the community decided to reactivate the Baptist church, he said. In 1932, the congregation moved into a building located at 3174 Church St.
Moving to this building was a blessing because the church’s previous meeting place had no windows and was in disrepair, Lee noted. “They had to make do until they could do better,” he said. “They were depressing times, bad for everybody, and people didn’t have money to give.”
The congregation remained at the Church Street location until 2000, when it relocated to its current site at 2867 Pelham Parkway.
The next year, the church was already looking toward expanding its facilities and purchased a skating rink, sitting on two acres on the other side of Pelham Parkway.
“We purchased the skating rink across the street from the sanctuary, totally remodeled it and turned it into a beautiful facility with a number of classrooms, a state-of-the-art kitchen and a large multipurpose meeting room with a stage,” MacKay said.
While the number of people meeting together and the meeting place have changed over the years, the “DNA” of First, Pelham — doing missions — has remained the same, Shaw noted.
Each year, church members participate in missions opportunities that take them to places such as Guatemala, Ecuador and Jamaica to New Orleans and Winchester, Ky.
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