In April 1843, when only a few dirt roads and small farms dotted the east Lowndes County countryside, a group of 20 met and formed what would become Mount Zion Baptist Church in the New Hope community. Next Sunday Mount Zion will celebrate its 175th anniversary and the faithfulness of those early founders.
All former members and guests are invited to a commemorative 10 a.m. service April 15, followed by lunch. No Sunday School will be held that day.
A planning committee led by Juanice Hayes has worked on the milestone celebration since February 2017. Together with church pastor Steve Lammons, the group has organized a morning filled with special music and remarks from former pastors as well as former members who were ordained at Mount Zion. A resolution from the Mississippi House and Senate will be presented by legislators Gary Chism and Jeff Smith. The Mississippi Baptist Historical Society will also make a presentation.
Hayes expects 100 to 150 guests to join the regular congregation for the event. She and the committee are still spreading the word, hoping to reach everyone they can.
Origins
One of the committee’s major undertakings was researching and updating church history. The bulk of that was done by Suzanne Daffron and Olivia Sansing. Archives at the Mississippi Baptist Historical Commission in Clinton were a big help.
“I would take one box at a time and read it and take notes,” said Daffron, remarking on records written in the flowing longhand of a bygone era.
Booklets of the compiled history will be distributed after the luncheon April 15. It capsules the saga of early members who gathered in homes for years before finally being able to build a meeting house. The small membership survived tumultuous times, not meeting during the Civil War but regrouping during Reconstruction.
By 1881, the 33 members were able to approve a pastor’s yearly salary of $75.
The church and the nation endured World War I, but after the war, the community began growing and Mount Zion would benefit. In the early 1920s, the preacher’s pay was $17 per week, supplemented with corn, potatoes, chickens, molasses and the occasional piece of pork.
These records and many more paint a picture of a congregation that didn’t give up in spite of difficult times. A congregation that would be amazed to see the church’s current large sanctuary, youth facilities and gym.
“We owe those members who exhibited such faith and perseverance a great debt,” Daffron and Sansing wrote in the church history. “If it had not been for the faithfulness of those strong Christians, we might not be the Mount Zion of today.”
Adding chapters
Clauson Chism is Mount Zion’s longest-tenured member. She moved to the area in 1941 and “this is the only church I’ve known,” said the active 89-year-old. The church body has been a constant through the birth of children and loss of loved ones. Chism looks forward eagerly to the anniversary. “This church has been a blessing to me,” she said.
Frances McKay, at 100, is the eldest member. When she and her dairy farmer husband moved to New Hope in 1955, they wasted no time getting involved.
“We came to church one morning, and that afternoon the pastor and his wife came to visit us and he invited me to help with vacation bible school, and that night we joined,” she said.
McKay was the first female to hold a leadership position in the church, when she became director of the Training Union decades ago.
Members like Chism and McKay add their own stories to Mount Zion’s history, as will future generations growing up in the church now. Observances like a 175th anniversary help ensure preservation.
“As we lose some of our older generation and younger people come into their prime, they come into leadership positions in the church,” said Lammons. “It becomes important from my perspective that they have an understanding or develop an appreciation for the history of the church and the tradition, the mission the church has had through the decades.”
Hayes encourages those attending the 10 a.m. service April 15 to arrive early enough to allow for signing in.
Lammons remarked, “It’ll be good to just kind of take this day to reflect back on where we’ve come from and the rich history Mount Zion has, as well as its bright future in ministering to people in the community and carrying on our faith and traditions.”
For more information, contact the church office, 662-328-2811.
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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