East Commerce Baptist Church at 560 East Commerce Street will be celebrating its 60th Anniversary on Sunday, Sept. 29. The activities for the day will begin with a special service of music from 10 until 10:45 a.m. in the church sanctuary. The church choir and several soloists and ensembles will be leading in this time of praise. The regular 11 a.m. worship service will follow with former pastor, James Hickey, as the keynote speaker. A potluck meal will follow in the fellowship hall. There will be no evening service.

The church began as a dream of the First Baptist Church of Lewisburg when their numbers reached 1,100 people with no room for physical expansion. Establishing a mission on what was then the outskirts of Lewisburg took several years of planning. The original building was 36 feet by 58 feet in the main auditorium with two stories of classrooms directly behind the sanctuary. The floors were concrete and the walls were painted concrete blocks. The members sat on folding chairs. There was no air conditioning or baptistery. The parking lot was gravel. Imagine the scene surrounding the church: A sawmill sat across from the church where the shopping center is now. The land where the US Post Office stands was vacant territory with a recognized cave in the middle. There was no Ellington By-Pass, no industrial park, and very little development. The road to Fayetteville which passed by the newly developing Hickory Heights neighborhood was a distinguishing factor.

First Baptist had encouraged those who lived east of town to place their membership at the new mission. The charter member list includes 157 people, which does not include babies and those family members who had not previously made a profession of faith. Among those charter members were Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Allison; Mrs. Kate Harmond; the Charles Barham family; the Clarence Bates family; Mr. and Mrs. Charles Bless; the James Cozart family; the Dick Davis family; Mr. and Mrs. Pat Dyer and Ray Bennett; the Caloway Crunk family; Mrs. Lorene Gates; Mr. Windy Hill; the James Hudson family; Mrs. Myrtle Hargrove and family; Mrs. Minnie Chilton; Mrs. Jackson Isley and family; the Richard Lasater family; Mr. and Mrs. Jim Ray; the Frank Rodgers family; the Wade Patton family; Mrs. Elizabeth Finley and family; Mrs. Mollie Rodgers; Mr. and Mrs. Eddie Rodgers; the Oscar Rodgers family; the Clebert McClary family; Mrs. Margaret Nelson; Mr. and Mrs. P.B. Russell; the James Russell family; the Clebert Glasscock family; Mrs. Fred Barnes and son Neal; the Garnett Choate family; the S.L. Thompson family; the E.E. Williams family; the J.O. Williams family; the Luther Wells family; Mr. Benton Whitehead; the Clifton Roberts family; the Manuel Lambert family; the Gene Martin family; the Jim Anderson family; Mr. Tom Muse; Miss Libby Young; Miss Carolyn McClary; Gene Stacey and son Freddie; the V.H. Baucom family; Mrs. Doyle Walker; Barbara and Donna Wiser; Mr. and Mrs. Walter McAdams; the Tom Barham family; Mrs. Agnes Battershell; Mrs. Irene Battershell; Mrs. Garrett Horton and family; Mr. and Mrs. Earl Pickle; Mr. and Mrs. Donald Richardson; Mrs. Maggie Richardson; and the Claude Watson family.

The church has been served by seven pastors: William C. Stockton, 1959-1963; James A. Hutson, 1964-1967; James Owen, 1968-1972; F. Murray Mathis, 1972-1976; Carl N. Price, 1977-1984; James R. Hickey, 1986-2012; Cliff Vines, 2013-Present. Two Hispanic ministers have led a Spanish-speaking congregation: Jose’ Galindo, 2004 -2008 and Gilberto Perez, 2008-Present. Kevin McGehee has served as the Youth Minister for the past 21 years. Other current staff members include Amy McGehee, Children’s Director; Scotty Stanford, Education and Young Adult Minister, and Tom Gilbert, Minister of Music. Brandie Liggett is the current Administrative Assistant. She followed Derrell Cowden who served the church for nearly three decades. Miss Martha Rodgers, church photographer for many years, has provided pictures for this event.

The church has undertaken several successful building campaigns and has over the years added an educational building, renovated and/or expanded the sanctuary twice, closed in the original breezeway to include a two-story classroom area, and extended and paved the parking lot. With the recent purchase of additional acreage behind the church, the congregation is looking forward to future growth.

Historically, the congregation has been evangelistic and mission-minded by sponsoring a weekly jail ministry, maintaining an active bus ministry, participating in Disaster Relief projects, donating to the Good Samaritan Center, funding annual youth mission trips to Ducktown and mission trips to South Dakota, Iowa, Nova Scotia, and Alaska, and by hosting the following activities: Vacation Bible School, not only at the church but also as a Back Yard VBS program off site, a Community Trunk or Treat, an Angel Tree for community children, the Baby Bottle Campaign for the Pregnancy Resource Center, Operation Christmas Child Shoe Box collection, gift bags for First Responders and law enforcement officers, and financial support for the MCHS Fellowship of Christian Athletes. The annual Wild Game Supper attracts hundreds of men throughout the community, and the Hunters for the Hungry program meets the needs of many people in the county. An all-age Sunday School, Sunday morning and evening worship services, an active Youth Bible Study, and a Wednesday night Prayer Meeting with classes for children compose the weekly agenda.

All charter members and children and grandchildren of charter members are encouraged to attend any or all of the activities on September 29.