150th Anniversary celebration bridges generations in Madison County

More than 300 Florida Baptists braved the rainy and dreary winter evening Feb. 10 to attend the "Join the Celebration" rally at the First Baptist Church of Madison and hear Jack Graham, president of the 16-million member Southern Baptist Convention.

"It’s so appropriate that the president of the Southern Baptist Convention could be here at this first meeting held at the birthplace of the Florida Baptist State Convention," said Clyde Larrabee, pastor of First Baptist Church of Madison.

"This is where it all started," said John Sullivan, executive director-treasurer of the Florida Baptist Convention. "From a handful of faithful believers we now have 2,800 churches and missions. We started something big in Madison and we have continued to grow."

The Florida Baptist State Convention was organized Nov. 20, 1854, in the Madison County home of Richard Johnson Mays. Seventeen delegates from several pioneer churches gathered at the Mays’ home to discuss how Baptists could work together to accomplish missions and ministry tasks more effectively. The seeds of the State Convention were sown that day.

The Madison rally is one of 14 regional events planned across the state during February and March to honor the Convention’s heritage and look to the hope of the future. The year-long anniversary observance will culminate during the Florida Baptist State Convention meeting in Jacksonville Nov. 8-9.

"We are here to celebrate the past as we dedicate our own lives to the present and future God has given us," said Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas.

Referring to hymns sung throughout the night, Graham said "We are connected from generation to generation by the great hymns of faith, by the spiritual songs as we’ve worshipped here tonight. We have shared the spirit of Christ and of His church from generation to generation."

Having served as a pastor in West Palm Beach, Graham applauded Florida Baptists for the consistency in "your commitment to the Word of God and your testimony to Jesus; and your devotion as Florida Baptists to fulfill the Great Commission in this state."

Graham thanked Florida Baptists for their "faithfulness to the Word, to the witness of the Gospel here in Florida. This is the way Baptist work should be done — done cooperatively and passionately, and done in the way that is glorifying and magnifying of the Savior."

He called for Florida Baptists to "wake up and smell the culture. There is a spiritual battle of the soul of our nation and for our children and our children’s children." He reminded those in attendance that First Century Christians also were confronted by cultural decadence and yet "they turned the world upside down."

"Rekindle the passion, fire and flame," he exhorted. "It’s that passion I’m certain the founders of the Florida Baptist Convention must have known that prompted them, led by the Holy Spirit, to begin this cooperative work in Florida. They began so small. Now look at the results of people doing the will of God."

Urging Florida Baptists to fulfill the Great Commission today, he said, "150 years ago, a small thing began a big thing because the Spirit of God and His power came upon His people. Home–your Jerusalem your Judea and your Samaria–is right next door, right across the street, right down the hall at the office, in this community and every community in Florida where churches that have been planted. God gave a wonderful strategy, little colonies of the Kingdom called churches."

Sullivan called for a time of dedication calling Florida Baptists to assume God’s great opportunity. "Passion is the key — passion for the lost, passion for the Gospel from Madison to Miami; from Pensacola to Jacksonville; from Kissimmee to the Keys."

Octogenarian Willie Claire Copeland, a member of Madison First Church for the past 50 years, called the rally an "effective service for a 150-year anniversary. The president told us things we needed to know. It’s good for Florida Baptists to focus on the past; they need to know their history."

Copeland brought memorabilia from the days of the State Convention’s origin to display, including a silver chalice, spittoons, Bible and offering plate, as well as old photographs.

Madison Pastor Larrabee added, "This has been a fitting tribute to the heritage of the 150th anniversary. There are clouds of witnesses looking with joy knowing that we were not only looking in the past but looking to the future." The church had prepared for an overflow crowd in its former sanctuary, built in the 19th Century. He reported that a bus traveling from Tallahassee to the rally had mechanical problems along the way, forcing its passengers and those of a second bus to turn back.

As chairman of the Florida Baptist Historical Society, Carolyne Melton of Greenboro cheered the year-long anniversary effort to keep Florida Baptists’ aware of their historical heritage. "If we don’t know our history, we are doomed to repeat the mistakes; and there is value and strength in knowing from where we came."