A few months ago, Antioch Third Baptist Church was under the gun to fix its deteriorating roof or have the building condemned by the city of Starkville.
Now, the building, in addition to its new roof, has seen an interior renovation thanks to the continued efforts of volunteers from local and out-of-town churches.
In early November, Starkville aldermen gave Antioch 60 days–until Jan. 7–to fix the church roof, which suffered from extensive and visible deterioration. The church, at the intersection of Spring and Gillespie streets in the Needmore Community, is near the Russell Street corridor, which has had millions of dollars poured into it as the city works to make it a primary thoroughfare from downtown to Mississippi State University.
On Monday, more than 30 people gathered at the church to fix the ceiling, sheet rock and make other improvements to the more than 100-year-old church. Danny Cheatham, a member of First Baptist Church’s discipleship group, which helped get the initial repairs on the church moving, said Monday’s work was a continuation of earlier efforts to help Antioch.
“Our intent involved just fixing the roof,” Cheatham said. “The inside of that little church was just so messed up that it broke the heart of some of us. We had a little money left over from donations, and as a result, we decided to take those resources and build them to the point where we could buy the material for the inside.”
Once the materials were acquired, Cheatham said, there was still a need for labor. That’s when members contacted Will Hyche, of Pinelake Church in Brandon, to help with the second round of repairs. Hyche is part of Pinelake’s Mission Construction Group, Inc., which travels across the country to work on churches.
Monday’s group included volunteers from First Baptist Church, Pinelake churches in Brandon and Starkville, and others. Hyche said they intended to finish the work in one day, and by Monday evening, the workers were preparing to pack their tools up and head home.
“It’s just incredible to me to see how God works in getting this done,” Hyche said. “We were concerned — or I was — about getting this done, but that was our goal we were pushing to try to do. God is so much bigger than every one of us, and here it is now, the middle of the evening and we’re substantially through.”
Antioch Pastor Mary Carr said her church is “overjoyed” at the aid it has received from volunteers to see it through needed repairs. She said it’s especially meaningful to see people from other churches in the community lead the efforts to fix the church.
“It lets us know that there are people who are willing to help people in need, whether it’s for a church or whoever it may be,” she said. “We’re thankful that we have people who want to reach out and help and didn’t want the church doors to close.
“As a young lady, I grew up in that church,” she added. “It means a lot to know that church will be there for many, many years to come.”
Carr said the church fell into disrepair through a combination of regular wear and tear on the building over the years and tree limbs and debris falling onto the building from storms. She said the church lacked the resources on its own to make repairs.
Antioch has about 15-20 members, Carr said.
Though the work on the building is done, Cheatham said volunteers may continue to work with Antioch to help the church grow.
“We have plans now to work with Ms. Carr now in helping in the Needmore Community to open doors and tell people about what’s going on here at this church,” he said. “We’re going to try to bring more members in. We talked about even doing a Bible school here this summer in the Needmore Community.
“It’s not just the facility,” he added. “The facility is great. It’s the byproduct of the facility–the saving knowledge of Christ and leading folks to Christ and a place for them to come and learn and grow in their relationship with the Lord.”
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.