c. 2006 Religion News Service

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. _ Midfield First Baptist Church, which had dwindled to about 40 mostly elderly, white worshippers, recently held its last service in the church building it had called home for nearly 50 years.

A week later, it handed over the keys _ and its $1.8 million property _ to a predominantly black Baptist church called New Beginnings in a property giveaway that gives new meaning to the church’s name.

“Somebody came up with the idea, why don’t we just give them the building,” said the Rev. Eugene Nail, 78, pastor of Midfield First Baptist since 2000. “It was built with tithes and offerings, and it’s the Lord’s building anyway.”

As one church dies away and another is born, Nail called it an “old ending and a new beginning.”

“We’re going to turn it over to them _ the church and everything in it,” Nail said. “Midfield First Baptist will cease to exist … . The town needs ministering to. Our people are too old. They had to kiss reality in the mouth.”

Midfield First Baptist no longer had a choir, but it had a ladies’ praise ensemble made up of five women in their 70s.

“We wanted to close with dignity,” said Midfield Music Minister Gene Hayes. “Our people saw it was a good thing to continue our legacy through this group of people.”

Midfield Baptist was founded in 1952 as a mission of another nearby Baptist church. The congregation held tent services before the education building went up in 1958. The 600-seat sanctuary was built in 1966.

Back then, Midfield Baptist was thriving. “It’s always been blue collar, U.S. Steel people,” Hayes said. “It’s always been a generous and missions-minded church.”

In the late 1960s, the church had 900 members and attendance of about 600 in Sunday school classes, said Hayes’ wife, Gloria, who has played organ and piano at the church for nearly 40 years. “We had a vibrant church,” she said.

The Hayes’ arrived at Midfield First Baptist with their 4-year-old daughter, Terri, in 1967. “She was baptized in the church, she was married in the church, her first baby was dedicated in the church,” Gloria said.

Their daughter, and the children of other members, generally moved on when they reached adulthood. Many of the remaining elderly members come from a distance back to Midfield to attend services.

“They stay out of loyalty,” said Nail. “That brick and mortar is sacred to them. They joined the church there, their children were baptized there and married in the church.”

The campus has a cemetery on the property that dates to the 1840s and includes the grave of Nail’s great-great-grandmother.

New Beginnings will take over the cemetery, the buildings and all the contents, including office equipment and the 9-foot-Steinway concert grand piano.

“They are deeding over the property and its contents so their legacy of ministry can continue in this part of the city,” said the Rev. Angulus Wilson, pastor of the 200-member New Beginnings congregation.

New Beginnings, started in 2003, had been holding services at two other local Baptist churches. “We outgrew those facilities,” Wilson said. “We continue to be ministry partners with both those churches.”

Wilson said the demographics of the neighborhood near the Midfield church campus are 60 percent black, 40 percent white.

“We can grow in a bigger facility and minister to a hurting community,” Wilson said.

The remaining Midfield First Baptist members will likely follow their children to other churches, Nail said.

“We are sad, but excited for the new church and what it will mean for the community,” Gloria Hayes said.

KRE/JL END GARRISON

(Greg Garrison writes for The Birmingham News in Birmingham, Ala.)

Editors: To obtain a photo of Nail and Wilson at the former Midfield Baptist Church, go to the RNS Web site at https://religionnews.com. On the lower right, click on “photos,” then search by subject or slug.