MONROE — Monroe Missionary Baptist Church is one of the pioneering Southern Baptist churches in Michigan. It has the distinction of being the second-oldest Southern Baptist church in Michigan. According to information provided by Anna Childress, MMBC clerk/secretary, the church was founded by a group of people who were “hungry for Christian fellowship and often met in homes, parks or picnic areas to sing gospel songs, pray, search the Scriptures and to have fellowship together.”
It was Tazewell, Tennessee, native Robert “Wade” Bolton who took the initiative toward organizing a worshipping fellowship beginning in early 1937. Many of Bolton’s siblings had moved north from Claiborne County, Tennessee, (located in the northeast corner of the state near the Kentucky and Virginia borders) to find work. Other Tazewell natives would join Bolton in his efforts to establish MMBC. The Rev. Hugh Vancel, Wade’s brother-in-law, was called to serve as evangelist in a revival which would use a rented two-car garage at 68 Jerome St. as its first meeting place. According to Vancel, “So much interest was evident in these services that many stood in the snow-covered street to hear the sermons. These crowds blocking the street were reported to Monroe police. After their investigation of the infraction, the officers consented to re-route traffic during services for the duration of the revival.”
At the close of the multiday revival meetings, the decision was made to organize MMBC. On Dec. 22, 1937, the Constitutional Service (to officially establish the church) was held at the 68 Jerome St. location. Rev. Vancel served as the organizational pastor, and the Rev. Henry Turner served as church clerk. The nine charter members were: L.E. Turner, the Rev. Henry Turner and his wife, Elizabeth, and Henrietta Turner, all from Riverview Church; Clayton DeBusk of Blair’s Creek Church; Horace Hicks and his wife, Lena Mae, of Union Chapel Church; and Wade Bolton and his wife, Eva, of Blair’s Creek Church, all of Tazewell.
Rev. Vancel would go on to help establish other Southern Baptist churches in the region during the time period. According to Artie Jeanette Roark’s 2015 obituary, Rev. Vancel helped Artie and her husband, Henry, organize the Bellevue Missionary Baptist Church in Bellevue, Ohio, in 1959. Henry worked for the Ford Motor Co. in Sandusky.
MMBC grew quickly. It moved from 68 Jerome St. to 618 E. First St. in 1942. It then moved to the corner of East First Street and Wadsworth Street in 1945. By the late 1950s, MMBC would have 1,400 members.
In 1990, MMBC purchased property on South Dixie Highway with plans to build a larger facility. On Aug. 11, 1996, ground was broken at 14260 S. Dixie Highway for what would become the current home of MMBC. On Aug. 30, 1998, MMBC held its first services in the new facility.
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Today, MMBC meets weekly on Sundays at 9 a.m. for Sunday School (classes available for all ages), 10:30 a.m. for morning worship service and at 6 p.m. for an evening worship service. MMBC also has Wednesday evening activities (6:30 p.m.) on a semester basis (current semester runs through May 22) with classes/activities for all ages.
The annual Vacation Bible School is set for 9 a.m.-noon July 15-19 with a family kickoff event at 6 p.m. July 14. Chlidren ages 4 through eighth grade are welcome.
— Tom Adamich is president of Visiting Librarian Service, a firm he has operated since 1993. He also is project archivist for the Greening Nursery Co. and Family Archives and the electric vehicle awareness coordinator at Monroe County Community College.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Monroe Missionary Baptist Church began in 1937