HANNIBAL – Antioch Baptist Church here is adding new ministries to existing programs, building on a 150-year-old ministry legacy.
The church’s ministry grows despite setbacks in recent years. Five years ago, Antioch Baptist overcame a disastrous fire, and has plunged forward through the COVID-19 pandemic to add ministries.
Pastor Jack Emmite said a Grief Share ministry, taken on by one of the ladies in the church, has been helpful to those in mourning.
“Most of the folks who have come to this are outside of our congregation. We plan to start (another class) again soon. The folks are able to get together and share with one another. It has been comforting for them,” Emmite said of the ministry.
He said a dozen or more of the women are being “Secret Sisters” ministering to area shut-ins and occasionally doing church outreach. Sometimes a meal is involved with this.
Former Antioch youth leader Daniel Bock is using an old Assembly of God Church building in the Newark area, reaching people and offering meals, sometimes for hunters.
“We donated the old hand rail from when our old church was destroyed. We’re seeing how we can help Daniel with that ministry. It may become a church plant.”
In 2020, when churches shut down because of the pandemic, one member suggested the church do a “Living Bible,” with costumed characters telling Bible stories in booths outside and some rooms inside the church.
“They had their own costumes. They decorated their own booths. It got people digging around (the Scriptures) for their particular part,” Emmite said, adding this may be continued again in the future.
Emmite said the church is among several area churches continuing their support of Christi and Michelle Harlea in their mission work in Romania. (Michelle is formerly from Hannibal). They are also continuing a women’s Bible study called Girlfriend’s Cafe.
He said his wife Melinda continues a puppet ministry, mainly in the church, but there have been some outreach events where the puppets were taken, including to Hannibal’s Tom Sawyer Days and some nursing homes.
Antioch continues youth groups, Royal Ambassabors for boys and Girls in Action.
“We get about 20 to 30 youth on Wednesdays. We feed them. A lot of them come from outside the church,” he said.
The church celebrated its sesquicentennial on Sept. 18-19, 2021, which featured the burial of a time capsule and various times of fellowship, remembrance and worship.
The church was organized in 1870, making 2021 technically its 151st year in existence. But the church’s celebrations in 2020 were postponed until last fall due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Emmite said that, although the 150-year celebration was postponed until last year, the event went well.
“The church is good financially and growing. In my 30 years here, we have doubled our Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. The church has been involved when they see others or other churches in need. Something like a fire makes folks more sensitive to needs. When you do outreach, it has a ripple effect. The Lord has blessed us,” he said.