PBC, Groundbreaking, November 20, 1960


In the spring of 1960, a trip to and around Pintlala, Alabama, meant driving past sites that are still present fifty years later: the Pintlala School, a 1922 building that then housed elementary and junior high students; Mosley’s Store, located at the corner of Mobile Highway and the Federal Road; Liberty Church of Christ on Highway 31; and Tabernacle Methodist Church on Federal Road. The community, which then had a population of about 300, also featured some sites that are no longer around: Tom Ganey’s Store, Shack’s Store, and a vacant Grange Hall. Yet what would be most noticeably missing during a 1960 drive through the small community is Pintlala Baptist Church for in the spring of that year, the church was only a dream, alive only in the imaginations of a handful of baptist folks.

 

Margaret Miner Birchfield

That dream of having a Baptist church located in Pintlala began its movement toaward reality on May 15, 1960, at a planning meeting held in the home of Howard and Margaret Birchfield. In attendance at the meeting were the Birchfields, Katherine Massey and her young daughter Judy, and Louise Todd. These and others who participated in the initial planning for a new church in Pintlala were faithful Baptists, and some were members of Ridgecrest Baptist Church in Montgomery.

This small group, after consulting with Frank Hixon, superintendent of the Montgomery Baptist Association and interim pastor of Ridgecrest Baptist, surveyed the Pintlala area in hopes of finding people who would be interesed in participating if a Baptist church were to be established. Joined in this effort by several members of Ridgecrest Baptist, the community-wide survey resulted in the collection of 114 names. Mary Clyde Meadows participated in that survey effort, and she remembers that “canvassing the neighborhood in 1960 revealed tremendous interest in starting a new church. The movement was intense. We were under an imperative. No one comes to Pintlala Baptist Church accidentally.” Her nephew, Herbert, who was then an eleven-year-old, also remembers the survey work: “Going house to house in the community stands out in my mind.”

 

Judy Massey Burton

Just one week after the initial meeting, a second gathering was held in the home of Charles and Mary Clyde Meadows. In attendance were Howard and Margaret Birchfield, Curtis and Katherine Massey, Charles and Mary Clyde Meadows, Jack and Callie Meadows, Barnett and Elizabeth Perry, and Morris and Louise Todd.

This planning group was not only enthusiastic, but organized. They elected Howard Birchfield as their temporary chairman and selected Mary Clyde Meadows as their temporary clerk. Over the course of the next few weeks, they met again and continued their planning, but also welcomed new members to their group and spent time praying.

 

 

Herbert Meadows

Only fourteen days after the first meeting, Ridgecrest Baptist voted unanimously on May 29, 1960, to sponsor a mission church in Pintlala, and one week later, on June 5, 1960, the first worship service for this new church was held in the home of Curtis and Katherine Massey. Eleven-year-old Judy Massey (now Judy Burton) remembers the days leading up to that first worship service: “There was excitement, anticipation. I remember getting our home ready for the first service. The chairs were facing the fireplace. We had swept out the carport. The unity of working together was working together was unforgettable.” Barbara Rogers (now Barbara Gass) recalls, “As a twelve-year-old girl, I remember walking in the front door of the Massey home and seeing those marble floors and folding chairs. It was a happy time.”

 

Mary Clyde Meadows

Forty-eight people attended that first service, which featured a sermon by Bart Kennedy, a student and football player at Howard College, welcoming piano music played by Judy Massey, and hymn singing accompanied by Lera Rogers on the piano. That first Sunday worship service concluded with twenty-one people joining the church. These twenty-one are the charter members of Pintlala Baptist Church. Of that first worship service, Leola Perry (now Lee Searcy) recalls, “I remember the excitement as we gathered at the Massey’s home for the first worship service. We all felt God’s presence, but for me it was so different being in a house and not in a real sanctuary. What a good lesson to learn as a child that when two or three are gathered in God’s name, God is there. I also remember how strange it felt for everybody to join church at the same time. But even then I knew it was a once in a life time experience to be starting a church.”

 

 

First Worship Service, June 5, 1960

On the Sundays that followed, other students from Howard College traveled to Pintlala to preach. Wednesday night services were led by lay members. At the first Wednesday night gathering, the new church held a business meeting, voted to establish a budget and visitation program. The members also learned that a meeting place for services had been secured. Howard Birchfield announced that the Montgomery Board of Education had agreed that the new church could use Grange Hall for its gatherings.

 

Historical Marker for Grange Hall

 

 

On Saturday, June 11, members of the newly established church came together to clean up Grange Hall. Built in the late nineteenth century by local farmers, Grange Hall had over the years served the Pinatlala community as a social gathering place, a one-room school, and living quarters for a school janitor. Following the construction of the Pintlala School in 1922, Grange Hall stood empty and mostly unused until the new church took residence there in 1960. John Meadows, who was eight at the time of the church founding, recalls “cleaning out the old Grange Hall; it was heated by old gas heaters.” In the late 1970s, Grange Hall was moved to Old Alabama Town in downtown Montgomery.

 

 

John Meadows

Three months after its founding, Pintlala Baptist Church held its first revival. In early September, the church invited Robert Lowery to preach the revival services. Lowery, a recent graduate of Howard College, a first semester student at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and pastor of Wilkes Mission in Brighton, Alabama, was assisted in leadership of the revival by Barnett Perry, who led the music, and Becky Alverson, who played the piano.

Following the revival, the church called Lowery as its first pastor. Because he was a seminary student and living in New Orleans, Lowery rode the train every Saturday morning to Montgomery, where church members picked him up. Several church families, including the Birchfields and the Etheridges, opened their homes to the young pastor. Later, Gus and Lora Boyd remolded their home to include an apartment in which the pastor and his family could live.

The next few months were busy ones for the new church. The first Woman’s Mission Society was held on October 4 in the home of Margaret Birchfield, with seventeen in attendance and Anne Wilson presiding. The brotherhood meeting was held later in October, and W.E. Price from Ridgecrest Baptist Church led a study with sixteen in attendance. That same month, a committee was formed to discuss a new location for the church and to determine whether services should continue in Grange Hall or if the members should instigate a building program. The church decided on October 10 to form a building committee with Curtis Massey as its chair, and a budget committee was also formed with Barnett Perry as chair. The first budget was adopted by the church on November 6 and totaled $6,678.00.

On November 20, Pintlala Baptist Church, which now had fifty-eight members, held a groundbreaking ceremony at the church’s future site, property that had been secured from the Montgomery County Board of Education. The program participants at groundbreaking included Lowery; Lewis Marler, pastor of Ridgecrest Baptist Church; J. Frank Hixon, superintendent of missions at the Montgomery Baptist Association; and Gus Boyd, Sr., the oldest member of congregation. The following month, on December 22, church trustees, Boyd, George W. Etheridge, and Howard Birchfield, signed a Certificate of Incorporation, and Pintlala Baptist Church legally became a church.

 

Groundbreaking, November 20, 1960

Margaret Birchfield recalls the hard work involved in those early days of the church: “We worked day and night painting and cleaning the old Grange Hall. I ordered literature and organized teachers. It was amazing how fast things moved the first year, securing land from the Board of Education and erecting the first building.” Her son, Terry, who was then an eleven-year-old, remembers “cleaning the floors in Grange Hall with lye water, waving the funeral home fans, having a watermelon cutting at the home of the Dunns.”

The new church building was completed quickly, with members helping with the painting and construction efforts and with church member Curtis Massey serving as the building contractor. This first building was a simple structure, designed to seat 200 with a raised pulpit, a baptistry, and a choir loft. The building featured inside walls made of concrete blocks and a roofed porch that had square columns on each side of the entrance. On the inside were two side rooms, one that served as a Sunday School room and the other as a bridal room weddings. A pastor’s study, kitchen, nursery, storage area, and equipment room were located behind the baptistry.

 

Curtis Massey and Robert Lowery

One year after the church’s formation, on June 4, 1961, Pintlala Baptist members gathered for a service in which to dedicate its new building. Together they spoke a vow of dedication, and they listened to the choir from Ridgecrest Baptist Church sing, “Forward through the Ages.” Frank Hixon offered a prayer of dedication, and Vernon Davidson preached. The next day, the young church launched its firs Vacation Bible School. Margaret Birchfield served as principal of the school, and forty-two children and nine teachers participated in a fun week of activities. Later that same month, the church elected its first deacons: George Etheridge, chair; Barnett Perry, vice chair; Howard Birchfield, secretary; H. M. Henley; and Gus Boyd, Sr.

 

Dedication of PBC, June 4, 1961

 

Terry Birchfield

During that summer, visitors frequently attended the new church. Other visitors stopped by to look at the new building. Among those who visited the building and walked on the grounds of Pintlala Baptist Church were twin teenage brothers from Birmingham who were spending time with their aunt, Margaret Birchfield. Four years later, as seventeen-year-olds, those boys returned to Pintlala, and together they led a youth revival. Gary Burton preached during that revival, while Lary Burton led the music and Judy Massey played the piano.

Fifty years ago a small group of Baptists gathered to dream of forming a new church in the Pintlala community. That dream moved quickly from hopeful conversation to prayerful action, and within thirteen months of the first planning meeting, members of Pintlala Baptist Church gathered to celebrate and worship in a new building. Today, the church celebrates again and remembers with much thanksgiving the founders, who dreamed, prayed, gave leadership, and worked hard in order not just to build a building but to create a place in which they could faithfully serve God and energetially meet the needs of their community.

 

Gary Burton

 

Lary Burton

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Current Charter Members who were in attendance on Anniversary Sunday, June 2, 2013. Herbert Meadows, Judy Massey, and Terry Birchfield.

Thank you to Pam Durso for compiling all of the above information and pictures.