Mount Olive Baptist Church, Sprott, is a small congregation in rural Perry County with about five members. Though the small number turned its usual weekly meetings into monthly ones, it doesn’t keep the Cahaba Baptist Association church from staying open.
In an effort to keep the doors open, church members teamed up with neighboring Cleveland Mill Christian Church in Sprott. The first Sunday of each month, Mount Olive Baptist hosts a joint worship service, and on the second and fourth Sundays, Cleveland Mill hosts the service.
This boosts attendance to “sometimes as high as 20,” said Angerine Hughey, treasurer for Mount Olive Baptist.
“Nobody wants their church to close so we work together,” said Hughey, a 50-year member of Mount Olive Baptist.
When attendees meet at Mount Olive Baptist, Paul Reitzer, the church’s pastor, preaches, and at Cleveland Mill, Pastor Harold Arnold preaches.
“We get a blessing from coming. … And if anyone wants to do visiting or anything, they do it on the third Sunday,” Hughey added.
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