VIENNA – Generational impact with lasting Kingdom influence beyond the current generation is clearly evident at Little Flock Baptist Church in tiny Vienna, a village of 650 residents midway between Jefferson City and Rolla. Though small—Little Flock currently sees about 25 in Sunday worship services—its influence has been, and is, long lasting.
The church recently celebrated its 140th anniversary. In its small rural community, it’s survived the Great Depression, COVID, membership loss, and lesser events. Yet, it continues.
“The church has survived 140 years due to the spiritual and financial faithfulness of those attending church there,” Pastor Chuck Davis explains.
Davis says the church also has “fifth, sixth, seventh or eighth generation descendants of the founding church members.”
Pastor Chris Cook of Parkade Church in Columbia is also evidence of the church’s faithfulness. He grew up in Little Flock and both he and is wife had relatives who ministered there. He’s also the great, great, great grandson of Robert S. Crum, a farmer who was instrumental in founding the church.
Much of the church’s history is lost, but Cook says the name may have been inspired by Luke 12:32 where Jesus refers to His disciples as a little flock.
“My (distant) grandfather was a successful stock farmer, so perhaps he resonated with that passage.”
“In that particular passage,” Cook says, “Jesus warns His disciples about the futility of worry and He calls upon them to trust in God’s provision even in anxious times.”
“Even while the country was still struggling economically (during the Great Depression) the church…dismantled their old wooden building in 1933 and in 1934 built a new stone building which still stands today.”
“Even in the midst of the greatest economic crisis, the membership of Little Flock Baptist Church did not fear, nor did they let fear define their mission. They had a vision for the future. They trusted God and He provided.”
Little Flock continues to demonstrate faithfulness to God with continued service and ministry in Vienna and beyond.
In the past eight years, the church has financially assisted local families with funeral and/or burial expenses, given financial assistance to two families that lost homes to fire, provided financial assistance to several Vienna Volunteer Fire Department members who were injured while firefighting, and supported the Vienna Ministerial Alliance.
Church missions work has included funding trips to Honduras and the Navajo Nation in the southwestern US.
During the worst years of COVID church attendance declined to less than 10 members, Davis says. It has rebounded to around 25 with new families with children. Today, the cross-generational congregation includes young families, middle-aged couples and singles, and senior adults.
“We have welcomed six new members in the last year with five transferring membership from other churches and one joining the church following a decision to give his heart to the Lord and be baptized. In addition, one other has made a profession of faith this year,” Davis says.
With the growth, Little Flock has started a children’s Sunday School. It’s planning a VBS this year.
“The Holy Spirit is most certainly moving in our little congregation,” says Davis, who is bi-vocational and also works as a forensic laboratory technician with the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
The church threw a party in April for its 140th anniversary and saw 125 attend the morning worship service with more joining for lunch, traditional hymn singing, and a southern gospel concert.
Deacon Joe Clay Crum, a 74-year member of Little Flock and descendant of Robert Crum, received a resolution from the Missouri House of Representatives that recognized the church’s legacy.
Robert Crum family descendants donated a pin oak tree and a redbud tree to memorialize Little Flock’s faithfulness.
“Just as a tree puts down deep roots,” Cook says, “so Little Flock helped many of us put down deep roots of faith Jesus Christ.”
The trees, Davis says, will continue to evidence and “honor the deep roots of faith that Little Flock Baptist Church has provided to all who—throughout its 140-year history—have worshipped there, and to serve as a reminder that through continued faithfulness to Christ the congregation can and will continue to grow in spirit and in number, and thrive as a true house of worship in the Vienna community.”