Jackson church to be site of Missouri Baptist Convention's kickoff for 175th anniversary celebration

To the faithful, the story of Old Bethel Baptist Church serves as a lesson in the importance of spreading the Lord's message and that to survive, a church cannot only minister to its own locality. Beginning in 1806, Bethel was responsible for the first influx of Baptist worship into the newly acquired Louisiana Territory. By 1864, Bethel was gone, but thanks to hard labor and a little detective work, the church has been restored and chosen by the Missouri Baptist Convention as the site to kickoff its 175th anniversary celebration.

Today will "be a celebration with the singing of old hymns and scripture much like it was then, hopefully," said Cape Girardeau resident Melvin Gateley, who serves on the Missouri Baptist Historical Commission.

The gathering at Old Bethel will be followed by others held across the state at Providence Baptist Church in Kansas City, Mo., on April 25; at Second Baptist Church in Springfield, Mo., on May 2; at Salem Baptist Church in Florissant, Mo., on a yet-to-be-determined date; and a fifth will be held somewhere in the northeast region of the state.

"One hundred seventy-five isn't just a number for our statewide celebration, but it's a slogan for us," said Doug Austin of Cape Girardeau, a board member of the Missouri Baptist Convention. "One message, every seven days, five words: Jesus loves and forgives you."

Aug. 29 will be the big day of the yearlong celebration at Providence Baptist Church in New Bloomfield, where the Missouri Baptist Convention was founded 175 years ago to the day.

KIT DOYLE ~ kdoyle@semissourian.comRichard Thompson drills dowel rods at Old Bethel Church early Wednesday in Jackson. The rods will serve as flag posts commemorating the nine other churches planted by Bethel Church from 1807 to 1824.

"Baptists are all about missionary work, and from Old Bethel came other churches," Austin said. Nine churches were born from Bethel, and by 1813 she, as many Southern Baptist churches are referred to, had 143 members.

"Not bad for a 20-by-30 log cabin," Austin said.

Before the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, what is now Cape Girardeau County was firmly in French hands and non-Catholic worship was illegal. That changed after the purchase, and on July 12, 1806, Bethel Baptist Church was founded near what is now Jackson. Old Bethel was the first Baptist church west of the Mississippi.

"She initiated a westward movement of Baptist evangelism," Gateley said.

The Missouri Baptist Convention recognizes eight regions in the state. Contained within those regions are the various churches, which are members of their local Baptist association. In the southeast region, 32 Baptist churches from Perryville to Advance belong to the Cape Girardeau Baptist Association.

Sean Davis spruces up the Old Bethel Church garden early Wednesdayin Jackson. Old Bethel will be one of four locations celebrating 175 years of the Missouri Baptist Convention on Saturday.

According to the website www.mobaptist.org, a Missouri Baptist church is defined as "a local body of baptized Christians who believe Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God."

In some respects, the MBC is comparable to a legislative body. Delegates, referred to as "messengers," are elected by their local churches and sent to the MBC's yearly convention to vote on a variety of matters ranging from the fiscal to the spiritual. From those people, the officers are elected to president, first and second vice president and recording secretary.

The Missouri Baptist Convention also belongs to the Cooperative Program, which, through the greater Southern Baptist Convention, coordinates missionary work throughout about 140 nations.

Want to go?

What: Missouri Baptist Convention 175th anniversary

Richard Thompson drills dowel rods at Old Bethel Church early Wednesday in Jackson. The rods will serve as flag posts commemorating the nine churches planted by Bethel Church from 1807 to 1824.

Where: Old Bethel Baptist Church, Jackson

When: 2 p.m.