Antioch Missionary Baptist Church has gathered for worship on the same stretch of Mount Meigs, just east of Montgomery, since 1818, making it one of the longest-standing Baptist congregations in central Alabama. The red-brick church sits at 738 Gibbs Road, in a rural community reached by turning off I-85 at the Mitylene - Mt. Meigs exit and following a country road past a junior high school. Under its nineteenth pastor, the Reverend Richard E. Griffin, Sr., the church continues a tradition that began when sixteen African Americans were baptized in 1850 and the first sanctuary was formally dedicated to the Lord.
From 1818 to the Modern Pulpit
Antioch was organized on June 5, 1818. In the years before 1849, all sermons were delivered by Caucasian pastors, and about forty African Americans were baptized into the church during that early period. On January 13, 1850, the sanctuary was dedicated to the Lord with a sermon preached from Genesis 28:16-17, and sixteen more African Americans were baptized that same year. The Reverend A.M.T. Hardy delivered twelve sermons during 1850, and in 1854 forty-eight more were baptized in the sister church of Elam Baptist, bringing the four-year total across the two congregations to 104.
The Reverend James A. Foster of Montgomery was Antioch's first Black pastor, and the church ordained nine deacons under his and Reverend Hardy's combined leadership. A succession of pastors followed - Reverend Steve Washington, Reverend John Plenty Lucas, Reverend J.C. Curry, and several others - each guiding the church through Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and the long civil rights era.
The Reverend C.J. Davis, the sixth Black pastor, served for more than sixteen years, baptized over three hundred people, oversaw the construction of a four-room parsonage on the church lot, and planned and built the church house that served the congregation for decades. Under the Reverend N.V. Muse, the fifteenth pastor, the church paid off a $10,000 remodeling debt, purchased the organ that still provides music for worship, and instituted the church budget and the printed bulletin, which continues to set the order of worship each Sunday. Reverend Paul L. Boswell, the seventeenth pastor, was the youngest pastor Antioch had ever called, and during his three years forty-four members were added to the body.
The eighteenth pastor, the Reverend Johnny J. Hollis, Jr., arrived in September 1984 from First Baptist Church on Ripley Street in Montgomery and preached his first sermon as Antioch's pastor on the first Sunday of that month. The church then numbered about 150 members. By the end of his tenure in March 2008, the membership had grown to more than 950. Under Reverend Hollis the church built a fellowship hall, classrooms, a kitchen, a library, a pastor's study, a finance room, a nursery, and a completed parking lot, and began taping the Sunday services to share the gospel with those unable to attend. He also founded several of the ministries that remain active today, including Congregational Care, Married Couples, Singles, Teen Scene, Outreach, Prison, Tutorial, Human Resources, and the Antioch Covenant Keepers men's ministry.
Reverend Richard E. Griffin, Antioch's nineteenth and current pastor, was installed on August 16, 2009. He was baptized at Antioch by the late Reverend Paul Boswell in 1972, preached his first sermon in 1993, and served as an associate minister of Antioch before being called to lead his home church.
Sunday Mornings at Antioch
Sunday at Antioch begins at 9:00 a.m. with Sunday School, which combines a streamed lesson overview with in-person adult and youth classes. Morning Worship follows at 9:45 a.m., offered both in person in the sanctuary and livestreamed through the church's Facebook page and YouTube channel. Each service is recorded by the Audio-Visual Ministry, established to assist the church with spreading God's word with today's audio and visual tools.
The bulletin, in continuous use since Reverend Muse's pastorate, sets the order of worship each Sunday, with music from the choirs, scripture reading, prayer, and the sermon preached from the pulpit.
Bible Study and Prayer Through the Week
Bible study is a steady part of life at Antioch. On Tuesday evenings at 6:00 p.m., the church gathers by conference call for a study that works through Proverbs and other books of scripture. On Thursday evenings at 6:00 p.m., Pastor Griffin leads a Zoom-based Bible study open to members and guests alike. On Monday evenings at 6:00 p.m., the church holds the 8:46 Prayer Campaign, dialing in together for a season of corporate prayer.
Music, Drama, and the Creative Arts
Music is woven through everything at Antioch. The Music Ministry, led by Deacon John Gibbs, Sr. as Minister of Music, oversees the Sanctuary Choir, the Sunbeams, the Male Chorus, and the Young Rejoicing Voices youth ensemble. Praise Expression is the church's mime and movement ministry, bringing scripture to life through silent gesture. A Drama Ministry stages full productions, from Christmas programs to the annual choir day celebration. A video ministry captures the music for sharing online.
Discipleship for Every Stage of Life
Antioch organizes its small-group and family ministries under the heading of Discipleship. The Married Couples Ministry gathers husbands and wives for fellowship and growth, while the Singles Ministry serves unmarried adults and the Teen Scene engages the youth. The Tutorial Ministry supports young people academically, and the Sunbeams children's group meets on the Saturday before the fourth Sunday each month for its own program of activities.
Care, Prayer, and Outreach
The Care Ministry keeps the church connected to its members. Congregational Care teams visit those who are homebound, and the Nursing Home and Home Bound ministry extends that care to members who can no longer attend in person. Prayer requests may be sent directly to the church by email.
Service to the wider community flows through the Outreach Ministry, the Prison Ministry, and the Matrons, Nurses Guild, Red Circle/YWA, Crusaders, and Human Resources auxiliaries. Antioch is part of the MADA - Mount Meigs Area District Association - Baptist network, and the MADA Matrons meet on the first Sunday of each month at 3:00 p.m.
Finding Antioch in Mount Meigs
From Montgomery, visitors take I-85 north to the Mitylene - Mt. Meigs exit (Exit 11), turn right, then take the first left onto Highway 80. Two miles later, Highway 80 brings them into Mount Meigs; a right turn onto Old Pike Road, then an immediate right onto Georgia Washington Road, leads past Georgia Washington Jr. High School to Antioch Lane, which ends one block later at the church.
The church office is reached at 334-215-3596 or 334-215-8104. General questions, prayer requests, and matters for the church secretary each have their own email address, and sermons may be heard through the church's Facebook and YouTube channels.