Woodmont Baptist Church in Mobile has closed its doors, but a gift to the University of Mobile (UM) will ensure that the congregation’s ministry continues far into the future.
A $200,000 donation to the university established the Woodmont Baptist Church Educational Endowment Fund. The fund, which will be held and invested by The Baptist Foundation of Alabama, will provided two half-tuition scholarships each year to students attending UM who are pursuing a degree in any full-time church-related vocation.
“It’s a good feeling,” said Roy Munger, chairman of the trustee committee for Woodmont.
“We’ve still got an influence on people. We can touch people’s lives.
“Even though we don’t personally do it, some of the efforts we made over the years building the church will continue to contribute to Christian ministry.”
Mike Blaylock, vice president for institutional advancement at UM, said the scholarship will have a major impact in the lives of students by making a Christian college education possible. But the impact doesn’t end there.
“Each student who receives a scholarship has the potential to impact the world,” Blaylock said.
Far-reaching effect
“They will be missionaries, preachers, music ministers and worship leaders and others who are dedicating their lives to Christian service. Through their ministries, they will share the gospel message and, ultimately, reach thousands of people with the message of God’s love.”
“This one gift will have a far-reaching effect,” Blaylock added.
The $200,000 gift to UM is the largest of many made by Woodmont Baptist as its members disburse the church’s assets. Munger said a total of $500,000 is being distributed to various denominational agencies and local charities.
“It’s not hard to give money away,” he said with a chuckle as he described the grateful reactions of many who received funds.
Munger said Woodmont held its final service Nov. 23, 2003.
Faced with a congregation where 70 percent of the members were in their 70s, dwindling membership and a 34-year-old church facility that still had its original air conditioning unit and needed updating, the members of Woodmont decided to disband.
They sold the church building, located on Azalea Road in west Mobile and appraised at $1.5 million, for $500,000 to the new congregation of Christ Fellowship Baptist.
“It was always our desire that someone take over and that God’s work would continue in that building. It’s not our building, it’s God’s,” Munger said.
Church members voted how to disburse the $500,000 proceeds, and a six-member trustee committee is now in the process of carrying out the congregation’s wishes.
Funds will be distributed to: the Alabama Baptist Children’s Homes & Family Ministries; First Baptist Church, Citronelle, which was damaged by fire; the Mulherin Home; Mission of Hope; Camp Whispering Pines in Citronelle; the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering; Mobile Association for Retarded Citizens; Home of Grace and the new Lakeside Church near Salt Lake City, Utah, among other groups.
In addition, they are investing in the ministry of UM graduate Milton Magalhaes, a Southern Baptist missionary in Lithuania who will use the funds for a building where students will learn more about Christ. The congregation is also providing a scholarship to Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., for former Woodmont minister of music and current UM student Zack Snow.
The gift to UM is the continuation of a long-term relationship. In the 1950s, Munger served on the site selection committee for UM, then Mobile College. Four of his children and two of his grandchildren graduated from UM. Other congregation members had similar close ties, and UM students have served in ministry positions with the church throughout the years.
The donations are a way to continue the legacy of a church that began as Toulminville Baptist in 1916, moved to a vacant drugstore building with nearby rented apartments for Sunday School space in 1964 as Woodmont Baptist, and opened the doors of a new church facility in 1969.
There are a lot of memories at Woodmont Baptist — decades filled with baptisms, marriages, funerals, the chatter of children in Sunday School, the joyous notes of a Christmas cantata, the quiet moments when God speaks to the heart of an individual.
While the church itself is no more, those moments are not lost. They made a difference in someone’s life.
With the Woodmont Baptist Church Educational Endowment Fund at UM, and the many other gifts to organizations and individuals, the people of Woodmont will make possible new moments and new memories. (UM)
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