West Beulah Missionary Baptist Church

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about West Beulah Missionary Baptist Church in Jefferson County. Now settle in, because this is a story about a congregation that has outlasted flood, fire, and more moves than most folks care to make. It started, as the best stories often do, in somebody's living room.

During the period historians call the Black Church Expansion, running between 1875 and 1925, West Beulah Baptist Church was founded inside a shotgun-style house. That style of house was common across the South following the Civil War, long and narrow, one room behind the next. And in that modest setting, the very first pastor, Reverend Sidney Farringdon, conducted prayer meetings right there in his home.

No grand sanctuary, no steeple catching the morning light. Just a community gathering around something they believed in. Now, things began to take a more permanent shape in 1912, when property on Cedar Street was received for a proper building for worship.

A place of their own. Reverend Markmon Harris came along and served the congregation from 1922 to 1945, holding things together across decades that were rarely easy for anybody. Then in 1945, Reverend Clarence H.

Durden was chosen, and he got to work. He supervised the repairs of the old church building and oversaw the addition of various facilities to what was already standing. Under that kind of steady leadership, membership grew, and West Beulah was reinstated in all local, state, and national missionary work.

That word reinstated tells you something. This congregation had range and standing, and they were reclaiming it. Then came the move.

In 1965, an acre of land was purchased for a future site, and by 1968 the church moved to new facilities on Bigner Road. Thirty-two years they worshipped at that location, and then the members looked around and said, we need more room. Construction began in 1999 on a new educational facility and a fellowship hall, along with a library, classrooms, and an expansion of the choir and chapel areas.

In 2013, the congregation voted to add the word missionary to the church's name, reflecting the church's ministry portal and its continuing support of the foreign mission initiative in Africa. A name change voted on. Deliberate.

Meaningful. And so the full name became West Beulah Missionary Baptist Church. The marker puts it plainly and I think it says it best: this church has survived flood, fire, and relocation.

All of it. Because of the dedication of its members to the church and to the community. Started in a shotgun house, built on Cedar Street, moved to Bigner Road, renamed in 2013, and still standing.

That is not luck. That is people holding on.

What the marker says

WEST BEULAH MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH During the "Black Church Expansion" between 1875 and 1925, the West Beulah Baptist Church was founded in a shotgun-style house that was common in the south following the Civil War. Rev. Sidney Farringdon was the first pastor, and conducted prayer meetings in his home. In 1912, property on Cedar Street was received for a building for worship. Rev. Markmon Harris served from 1922 to 1945. In 1945, Rev. Clarence H. Durden was chosen and he supervised the repairs of the old church building, as well as the addition of various facilities to the existing building. After an increased growth in membership, West Beulah was reinstated in all local, state and national missionary work. In 1965, an acre of land was purchased for the future site of the west Beulah Baptist Church, and in 1968, the church moved to the new facilities on Bigner Road. After 32 years of worship at the present location, members decided to add new facilities and to renovate the sanctuary. Construction began in 1999 on a new educational facility and fellowship hall, along with other facilities to serve the church's needs, including a library, classrooms and expansion of the choir and chapel areas. In 2013, the church voted to add missionary to the church's name due to the church's ministry portal, continuing its support of the foreign mission initiative in Africa. West Beulah Missionary Baptist church has survived flood, fire and relocation because of its members" dedication to the church and community. (2014)