Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church in Crystal City kicked off its 100th anniversary celebration on May 7 with a full day of activities.
The event included a morning service led by the church’s current pastor, the Rev. Ralph Neal, a potluck lunch and an evening program led by the Rev. Anthony Robinson of Greater St. Luke Baptist Church in St. Louis. Robinson is the nephew of Mount Olive’s former pastor, the Rev. Freeman Robinson, who died in 2019 after serving the church for 20 years. St. Luke church members were invited to attend the celebration as well.
Lifelong Mount Olive member Denise Brown, 65, of Festus, the church’s current financial secretary, said about 70 people attended the anniversary event, which more than doubled the congregation’s typical attendance of about 30.
Crystal City Mayor Mike Osher also attended the event at Mount Olive, 136 Lincoln Ave.
He presented Mount Olive with an official proclamation commemorating its 100th anniversary. It also proclaimed May 7, 2023, as “Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church Day.”
Brown said the church plans to hold more events this year to celebrate the church’s centennial but nothing else has been scheduled yet. When more plans are made, they will be announced on the church’s Facebook page, she said.
History
According to church history, Mount Olive was founded in 1923, when a group of local African American residents formed a Baptist church. The founders originally named the church First Baptist Church; however, a white congregation was building a church at the same time and named their church First Baptist Church. The founders decided to rename their church the Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church.
That organizing group included Mr. and Mrs. Jake Guess, Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Jackson, Mr. and Mrs. Albert Sergeant, Mr. and Mrs. Hayes, Ida and William Underwood, and Mr. and Mrs. Tullock.
During its first two years, the church met in the Peth House, a large building on Mississippi Avenue that the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. let the group use. In 1927, PPG donated a lot on County Road to Mount Olive to build a new church building.
Jake Guess was credited with leading the fundraising activities, including a baby contest, quilting bees, barbecues, chicken dinners and fish fries. With the help of volunteers who were both church members and non-members, the church was built.
It was known as “the little church on top of the hill” because it sat on a high hill that overlooked County Road. The cornerstone was laid in May 1927 and was commemorated with a big celebration involving many local churches.
The Mount Olive congregation met at the church building until 1968. By that time, the building was in disrepair, and the steps made the church inaccessible to older members.
The old church was torn down and the hill was cut down to street level. A basement was dug, a roof put over it, and plans were made to build a new church. However, water problems made the basement unstable and church officials began to look for a new church site.
During that time, Deacon Jesse Harris, grandson of organizer Jake Guess, kept the church going, showing up at the basement location to sing praises and offer prayers, many times alone.
In 1981, the Maul family donated the property where the church is now located, and ground was broken on May 10 that year. In March 1982, the congregation of 60 moved into the basement of the new building.
Looking forward
Neal, 67, who lives in St. John, has been leading the church for nearly four years.
In 2019, after Robinson died, the church was looking for a new pastor. Several church members saw Neal, who was a guest speaker at an event at the Buren Chapel A.M.E. Church in Herculaneum and asked him to fill the role as acting preacher for six weeks until they could find a permanent one.
“On the fifth week they said, “You don’t have to go through the sixth week; we already chose you,’” Neal said.
He said that while he’s interested in seeing the church grow, he’s less concerned with increasing the number of weekly attendees and more concerned about the church members’ personal growth.
“I don’t think it’s about getting more people, and here’s the reason why: people inside the church, whether it’s one 10 or 100, they have to mature and grow in Christ. The church assignment is to equip the people in the church to be the church outside of the church. So in order for the church to grow, the people have to mature. They have to grow.”
Neal said he’s proud of the church for making it through COVID-19, with the help of online services and socially distanced services with limited numbers allowed.
“I think if God sent someone to this church, it would be awful if the sign said, ‘Closed due to COVID.’”
The secret to the church’s longevity might have something to do with the connection members have with each other, said Neal.
“They are very family oriented. It’s a small city, so everybody is connected to the community,” he said. “And there’s a willingness to learn that you normally don’t see in smaller cities because they normally get caught in the tradition.”
Neal said the church plans to have some sort of celebratory event every month this year, including both small and large ones.
He encourages community members to come and check out the little church.
“God gave us the ability to be creative. Be creative enough just to come and see what is here,” he said.