Missionary Baptist Church

Missionary Baptist Church. . Founded in 1882, Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church is the second oldest congregation in Eatonville. When the church began; its members assembled on alternate Sundays in the same structure used by the St. Lawrence African Methodist Episcopal church. In 1889, the Baptists moved their meetings to a small house on Eaton Street. By 1929, the Macedonia congregation had outgrown that building. They built a small sanctuary on the corner of Eatonville Road (now Kennedy Boulevard) and the west side of Calhoun Street. In 1941, the church members constructed a larger building on the east side of Calhoun and Eatonville Road., In 1941, the church members constructed a larger building on the east side of Calhoun and Eatonville Road. Over the years, members of the church made various additions and repairs. In 1972, the church hired a contractor to construct a new church building. The current church was built in 1994 at a cost of $1.25 million. The old sanctuary, named the Peter L. Lias Hall in memory of a former pastor, is connected to the new building which contains worship space for 1,000 people, administrative offices, dining and fellowship facilities, meeting rooms and classrooms., "I tumbled right into the Missionary Baptist Church when I was born. I saw the preachers and the pulpits, the people and the pews…From the pews I heard a ready acceptance of all that Papa said. Feet beneath the pews beat out a rhythm as he pictured the scenery of heaven. Heads nodded with conviction in time to Papa's words. Tense snatches of tune broke out and some shouted until they fell into a trance at the recognition of what they heard from the pulpit.” , , Zora Neale Hurston, Dust Tracks on a Road, (captions) , The Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church building was the first to be constructed by a professional contractor. Completed in 1974, it served as a worship space for a growing congregation until the new church was built in 1994., This photograph is a reconstruction of a portrait of the Rev. John Hurston and Lucy Potts Hurston. Rev. Hurston, the father of Zora Neale Hurston was the second pastor of Macedonia., This is the Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church structure which its members built on the east side of Calhoun and Eatonville Road, c. 1945