Brief History of East Commerce Baptist Church
Researched and Written by Lynda Crunk Potts, Charter Member
In the fall of 1959 the 157 charter members and associated children of the Baptist Mission on East Commerce Street were gaining their independence from their mother church. Severalyears prior to this, First Baptist Church had reached 1100 members with no room for expansion. A mission seemed to be the only solution. Numerous committees had undertaken the work of finding the right location, clearing the land, hiring an architect, securing a contractor, and selecting a pastor to lead the mission. Picture the landscape. The church was at the edge of town. If a person stood on the front porch of the church, he could see a lot of trees and a saw mill directly across the road. Arocky glade with an exposed cave was on the west side where the post office stands today. There was obviously no shopping center, no Ellington By-Pass, no industrial park as there is today. Two private residences stood to the east where the walk–in clinic is now. In clear sight was a long straight, narrow road to Belfast. All those who lived east of town had been encouraged to place their membership with the mission.
The auditorium measured 36 by 58 feet. Directly behind the sanctuary were classrooms on two stories. The building was constructed with concrete blocks and brick veneer. The interior walls and the floors were concrete which we painted. Those who attended sat on beige folding chairs. There were no window treatments, no air conditioning, and no baptistery. A gravel parking lot was located on the west side of the building. The original investment of $75,000 was a serious financial commitment for the members. Bill Stockton, who had just graduated New Orleans Baptist Seminary, came with his wife Agnes and 14-month-old daughter Nancy to serve as the congregation’s first pastor.
In the crowd that day were many young couples with small children and several middle-aged parents with teenagers. Many of those “saints” are now gone, but among those present that day were Harvey and Joyce Allison with her mother, Kate Harmond; Martha, Katy, and Helen Rodgers with their grandmother Mrs. Chilton and their mother Mildred; Richard and Virginia Lasaterwith children Dickie, Kay, and Leslie, and her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jim Ray; Clebert and Lona Glascock with sons Allen and Carl; Dick and Mildred Davis and son Mike; Darlene Rodgers with her grandmother Mollie Rodgers, and her aunt and uncle Eddie and Pearl Rodgers; P.B. and Jewell Russell with their son James, his wife Betty and their young children Donna Kay and Bubba – Lynn would, a little later, be among the first babies in the nursery; Mr. and Mrs. James Hudson with their children Elizabeth, John, Joyce (our Joyce Booker), and Jean; Gene and Shirley Martin with their baby Terry; Mr. and Mrs. Everett Williams with Judy and Eugene; Mr. and Mrs. John Ollie Williams and their daughters Juanita and Nancy and their married daughter Anne Barron; Elizabeth Finely with children Barbara and Leon; Mr. and Mrs. Pat Dyer with her son Ray Bennett; and Caloway and Jean Crunk with daughters Vicki and Lynda. In February the group would be joined by Jack and Bonnie Adams who moved from Murfreesboro.
What is memorable about those days was (1) the simplicity of the surroundings – It is noisy without carpet and sheet rock! (2) The long business meeting over naming the church. Mount Pizgah was suggested. The church was almost named Faith Baptist Church. And (3) the great, creative fellowships that all members enjoyed -- like church-wide hayrides, Halloween haunted houses, ice cream suppers, the annual fish fry, and water melon cuttings. Mr. Tom Muse, who was president of the Bank of Belfast, was also a magician, so every fellowship he entertained the crowd with his magic acts.
When Bro. Stockton left in 1963, the church was boasting a membership of 254. His concentration was on local mission work, Vacation Bible School, and personal visitation. During his time the floors were tiled and pews without pads were installed. Charles and Madge Barham’s older children – Nadine, Nolan, Eddie, and Alice directed the choir during these years without pay.
In 1964 the church purchased a parsonage on FairlaneDrive for $13,500. That was just before the church called the second pastor, Jim Hutson, who arrived with wife Immogeneand children Steve and Susan for the Easter service that year. Mrs. Hutson, a gifted musician and vocalist, began a children’s choir. A new piano for the sanctuary, new hymnals, and radio broadcasting equipment were soon purchased. The church wason the air every Sunday! Realizing the need for more classroom space, bigger offices, and a fellowship hall, the church decided to construct a two-story educational wing on the east side of the main structure. An open-air breezeway connected the two buildings. Members did the painting, made the curtains, and stocked the classrooms and the kitchen with supplies. Pianos were donated for all the children’s classrooms. The educational building was dedicated in 1968, two months after Bro. Hutsonresigned as pastor. Membership was 247 with an average attendance of 149.
In May of 1968, James Owen, his wife Anne, and their three boys came to serve the East Commerce family. Bro. Owen concentrated on evangelism. Part-time ministers of music and youth were called. A baptistery and an electric organ were installed. Church membership and attendance were at an all-time high when dissention caused a split in the congregation. When the Owens were called to another pastorate in January 1972, many members left to form Parkview Baptist Church. Those were dark days for the original young couples who were by then middle aged, but they sought God’s guidance and were led to a young and enthusiastic pastor, F. Murray Mathis and his wife Loretta. Mrs. Mathis, a talented keyboardist, added to the music personnel while attending to their children Esther and Archie Lee. Bro. Murray encouraged the church to look forward and established a Future Growth Committee, which laid the groundwork for a very active bus ministry, a children’s church, the first renovation of the sanctuary, and a strong missions-teaching program. When the Mathis family left in 1976, the church voted to sell the parsonage and provide a housing allowance as part of the pastor’s benefits.
In April of 1977 Carl Price, his wife Mary Lena, a talented musician, and teenage children Curtis and Mary Ellen began their ministry with East Commerce. A former prison chaplain, Bro. Price initiated a jail ministry for the community and a prison ministry for the church. A paved parking lot was extended to surround the building. A graded children’s choir program was begun with many musicals and dramas staged by the children. A children’s Bible drill was continued and the teaching of missions was thriving with every age level involved. After Bro. Price resigned in 1984, Dr. Joe Stacker led in an interim position for about 18 months.
Then in March 1986, James Hickey, wife Shirley, and young son Matthew began a ministry with the congregation that lasted until his retirement in 2012. Obviously many changes took place during Bro. James’s 26 years. With a heart for missions, he encouraged evangelism with such key programs as Advanced Teacher Training, Experiencing God, Divorce Care, and FAITH which were successfully taught and enacted. In 1994 the church gained national attention as Lifetime filmed the youthof the church in a special documentary for “True Love Waits”. In 1996 the church enclosed the breezeway to house two floors of classroom space. In 1998 Bruce and Peggy Ramsey were commissioned as volunteer missionaries to Nova Scotia. That same year the church called Kevin McGehee to lead the youth ministry. Under Kevin’s leadership the young people participated in quality Bible study, mission trips to Ducktown, after-church get-to-togethers, trips to the state youth evangelism conference, and conducted Help Days for Senior Adults. In 2001 the church voted to enlarge the existing auditorium to accommodate 300 people. This major renovation to the sanctuary included extending the outer walls, adding a large vestibule with attractive bathrooms, increasing the size of the pulpit and the choir loft, elevating a new baby grand piano to stage level, and adding plantation shutters to the windows. The parking lot was expanded by paving an area east of the educational building. Simultaneously a commercial kitchen was installed in the educational building. And for future reference, if a person rips up the carpet in this sanctuary, he will find that many active members at that time wrote their favorite Bible verse on the concrete floor. This fact adds new dimension to “ Standing on Holy Ground”.
The church established an Hispanic Mission in 2004. Jose’Galindo was the first pastor called to lead the 40-member group. In 2008 Gilberto Perez and his family assumed the duties of this pastorate and were a blessing to the Hispanic congregation and to the East Commerce church family until 2023 when they acquired the Lakeview Baptist Church property on Verona Road and established themselves as a stand-alone Hispanic church.
In 2006 the church voted to add another part-time staff position, that of Director of Children’s Ministry. Diane Roberts, Lynn Stocstill, and Amy McGehee have all served in that capacity. It has been during this time that the children have enjoyed Easter egg hunts, back-to-school and end of school parties, the puppet ministry, a renewed interest in Bible drills, and a children’s choir.
When Bro. Hickey retired in February of 2012, Mike Dawson was secured as interim pastor and led the churchthrough a year of reflecting on the church’s history, its past accomplishments, and its direction for the future. DerrellCowden, who had served as church secretary for 26 years retired. During this interim the church was able to purchase the property directly behind the church from the Sharp family. Senior adult day trips and outings were a focus. This and theconcern for the safe travels of the youth would later lead to the purchase of a 15-passenger bus.
Cliff Vines, his wife Rene and their three sons were called as the seventh pastor and family in March of 2013. For the first time in the history of the church, the pastor was younger than most of the active members. Bro. Cliff’s tenure was marked by solid Bible teaching from the pulpit, the ever-increasing popularity of the Wild Game Ministry and Sunday School Class, the continued success of the jail ministry, mission trips to Alaska, the clearing of land behind the church, the addition of another staff position with Scotty Standford as the Minister of Education and Young Adults , a Secret Sisters program with a once-a-month Ladies Day activity, and an on-going rivalry among college football teams! During the 60th anniversary the church publically burned the note of indebtedness five years before it was due to be paid off.
In the spring of 2023 Mason Douglas accepted the position of Young Adult Director. (This position replaced the Minister of Education and Young Adults.) Bro. Cliff Vines resigned from the pastorate in the fall of 2023. Bro. Bob Vassar, the former pastor of Pleasant Heights Baptist Church in Columbia and a Certified Transitional Pastor, was called to lead the congregation in a time of transition while a new pastor is found.
Over the years the congregation has enjoyed the musicianship of numerous part-time ministers of music. Included in that list are these: Nolan Barham, ImmogeneHutson, Rene’ Lehmann, Brent O’Hara, Bill Ball, Byron B. Cox, Jr., Stephen McCollum, Lynn Stocstill, Jim Garrison, Robert Dragland, John Zimmer, and Tom Gilbert.
The church embarked on a building program in 2023 and is currently finalizing plans with architects and engineers.
Brandie Liggett joined the church staff as Administrative Assistant in 2013 and continues to handle the daily operations of the church office.
