Selmore Baptist Church Celebrates 100 Years

An Ozarks church marks a milestone today.

Congregates at Selmore Baptist Church in Ozark celebrated its 100th birthday.

Congregates, past members, and former pastors all came together Sunday morning at Selmore Baptist Church.

They came for prayers, fellowship and to reflect on 100 years of family.

Pastor Josh Hall says, "historically our church has been what you might call a family church, a generational church."

Congregate Mary Noon says, "my grandmother, my great grandmother, all of them have gone here, so this is just home to us."

Congregate Cynthia Carey says,"we actually have four generations of active members still from the original 13."

Back in 1907 a group of Christians decided the community needed a church, and those original services rotated among Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian.

Noon adds, "we had real good ancestors that came in and really built the church strong, and we've tried to keep it really strong."

They say they've kept it strong by keeping in tune with their community.

Pastor Hall says, "we're willing to change and adapt; we never change our message, we never change the gospel, but we're willing to adapt to our culture and our community and stay relevant."

Keeping up with the times is something that's built deep into the foundation of Selmore Baptist.

Congregant Eldorene Montgomery says, "our church motto is pray, give, and go."

So ringing in the next 100 years is only natural.

Mary Noon says, "I hope we have continued growth and keep our young people interested in what they're doing."

Carey adds, "we want to do what we can to make sure that this church is still vital in the next hundred years."

The church has already added on to the original building three times, and now they have plans for more.

Carey says, "we're building on some rooms for the classrooms for them because ours are so crowded right now."

Pastor Hall says focusing on youth will help bring his congregation into the next century.

And while change is a good thing, he says not forgetting the original message is key.

"This church is a healthy church, and it's a vibrant church, and we're going to continue to reach people for jesus in the next 100 years."

One thing founding members of Selmore Baptist probably never planned was bringing the church into the virtual age.

You can now visit the churches web site at http://www.selmorebaptist.com