Antioch Missionary Baptist Church is celebrating its 150th anniversary this month, but it’s not just about the building. It’s all about 150 years of “putting God first.”
The church currently has a congregation of around 100 — “few, but faithful,” members say — and is located at 5201 Horton Road, across the street from the historic Glover School. This is a house of worship that started with a log and a clearing and eventually became a pillar of the Bealsville community.
“When I was about nine years old I was baptized right up there in that baptism pool, and I have known no other church but Antioch,” longtime member Keith Clark said. “This is my church home. I was raised up in the church.”
Led by Rev. Tony L. Bradley, it’s planning a celebration with guest preachers starting Nov. 13 and ending with two special services on Nov. 18. All are welcome to worship with Antioch’s “faithful few” and take in the history of the church.
In 1868, shortly after Bealsville was settled, a group of men named Roger Smith, Bob Storey and Bryant Horton started conducting services in that clearing, with the congregation sitting on the pine log, under the Antioch Church name. They eventually moved to a bigger clearing and built an overhead shade structure from oak trees and palmetto fronds to worship in all kinds of weather.
In 1883, Bealsville namesake Alfred Beal donated a 10-foot by 12-foot barn for the church and it got its first lettered pastor, Rev. George Larry. Ten years and one move later, Antioch found itself in danger of being broken up in a dispute between two of the state’s church associations and Horton walked from Bealsville to Gainesville to fight successfully for Antioch’s place in the West Coast Association.
Antioch was brought to its present location in the 1940s in a move some of its members remember. The church was uprooted using a donkey-powered pulley system that pulled logs underneath its foundation one at a time until the entire area had been cleared, then moved to its spot on Horton Road. The old building became what is now the rear of the church to make way for additional construction, and the congregation was excited to make the walk to the new location.
“We had to walk a mile and a half to church… We’d be dressed but, by coming down the path from where we lived, we had our shoes and our socks in our hand and you had to protect your dress,” Claudene Broadnax-Hicks said.
Several members of the congregation have been active since that time or eventually found their way back to the church after leaving town and coming back. That includes 3 who became involved in the choir at age 12 and still sings with the group at age 91.
“I did go away for so long, 32 years, but my mind was always on Antioch to come back,” Phostella Bowers said.
Antioch underwent a complete renovation in the mid-1970s under Rev. J.H. Williams, who led the church for 28 years, and Rev. Correggio Reaves spearheaded the movement for further quality-of-life improvements inside the church and a two-acre land purchase outside of it.
Bradley joined the church in 2011 after Reaves went to Tampa to lead St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church, which has been a fellowship partner of Antioch’s for 79 years. Reaves now is scheduled to preach at Antioch’s 3:30 p.m. anniversary service on Nov. 18.
Antioch’s celebration kicks off Nov. 13 with Rev. Dr. Shafter Scott of St. Mary Missionary Baptist Church of Plant City leading an evening service. There will be a fellowship and prayer meeting on Nov. 14 and a Nov. 15 revival. The Sunday morning service at 11 a.m. will feature Rev. James Austin as guest speaker. The church’s members are ready to honor the past, celebrate the present and embrace the future.
“I love my church. I do all I can for it,” Pauline Mackey, who has worshipped and served at Antioch for more than 75 years, said. “We used to work our hearts out. No money. No pay. We didn’t look for nothing like that. That wasn’t a thing. We gave our service freely.”