HANNIBAL – The Fifth Street Baptist Church is celebrating Christmas with a renewed sense of purpose and identity, but they recognize their traditional roots in Hannibal, which calls itself “America’s Hometown.” The historic Hannibal church has been in existence since 1837.
They are celebrating Christmas this year with several traditional activities which may not seem particularly innovative or unusual – but that is the point. They are claiming their role in the Hannibal community as a “traditional church.”
And they are doing several things to celebrate Christmas in a traditional way. Advent devotions in morning worship, a choral presentation, collecting food for the needy, cookies and caroling and a candlelight Christmas Eve service are among the holiday activities.
Originally named Zoar Baptist Church, they were one of the early churches established in westward expansion pioneer days on the Missouri prairie. Later after merging with other churches and relocating to downtown Hannibal, they became known at Fifth Street Baptist Church in 1893. They are the mother church to several other Hannibal congregations, including Calvary Baptist, Southside Baptist and Prince Avenue Baptist churches. The church has also been very involved in the establishment and support of Hannibal-LaGrange University.
HANNIBAL – Karen Cookson (left) and Connie Craig (right) of Fifth Street Baptist Church were receiving gifts for the church’s Reverse Advent emphasis on Sunday, Dec. 3. The church emphasized bringing a food item for the area food pantry as well as the gift of Christmas. Pastor Tom Carpenter explained they wanted people to give as well as receive during the Advent season. (Photos by Angelia Carpenter)
In recent years the church attendance has not been on an upward trend. Pastor Tom Carpenter said they have been on a 30-40 year gradual decline. They now average around 40 on Sundays. But he is hopeful for a turnaround and sees a bright hope for their future.
He said, “We are a traditional church, and there are a lot of people looking for a traditional church.”
Carpenter added, “We see signs of hope. Even if the situation seems difficult, we need to be willing to move forward.” He is engaging the church in a refocusing process and will have sessions in January leading the church to make plans to move forward. He is asking the question, “Where do we go from here?”
Carpenter and his wife, Angelia, joined the Fifth Street Church as pastor and wife in the past year. He had moved back to Missouri from the state of Louisiana a few years ago. Carpenter grew up in nearby Shelbina and had moved around the country some, pastoring churches in Iowa, Washington and Louisiana. He served on the staff of the Louisiana Baptist Convention as a director of facilities. Al Groner, director of missions for Bethel Baptist Association recommended him for the Fifth Street pastoral position.
Tom describes himself as a pretty traditional Baptist, growing up in the First Baptist Church, Shelbina. He married a Baptist preacher’s daughter in Iowa and he went to college and seminary in Baptist institutions.
He is a bivocational pastor, serving also as the director of maintenance for the Mark Twain Foundation, an organization that maintains several museum buildings in Hannibal, paying tribute to Hannibal’s famous citizen Samuel Clemons, or Mark Twain as he was popularly known.
So he is leading the church to do Christmas in ways that are familiar and dear to a lot of people who live in small communities like Hannibal.
They are doing what they call “Reverse Advent.” Families are reading advent devotionals in Sunday services leading up to Christmas. But they are asking everyone to bring a food item each week and place it on the altar as a way of “giving’ as well as “receiving” in the Christmas season.
They also are hosting the Mark Twain Chorale for a Christmas concert. The community chorus is led by a professor at Hannibal-LaGrange University, Allen Means. The group is made up of Hannibal residents from many churches and includes several students from the university. The concert will include holiday favorites from pop and sacred music genres.
The church has invited their neighboring church, First Presbyterian of Hannibal to join with them for cookies and Christmas carol singing. They share a parking lot and try to do some events together in the downtown Hannibal community throughout the year.
And just before Christmas, there will be a candlelight Christmas Eve service in their sanctuary. There will be plenty of singing, Scripture reading, lighting of candles and then at the end candles will be extinguished with the exception of one single candle, representing the Messiah, Jesus Christ. In the darkness of the sanctuary, one solitary light will illuminate and signal the advent of Jesus.
It may be fairly traditional and not particularly modern or innovate at Fifth Street Baptist, but that seems to suit Hannibal just fine. Carpenter and the Fifth Street Church are hopeful for the future and welcome newer generations to join them in lifting up Jesus.