ST. JAMES MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH: Church opens new home

FAYETTEVILLE — After spending 144 years at its current location, St. James Missionary Baptist Church has found a new home.

"For the most part, everyone is excited about it," the Rev. Curtiss Smith said. "Anytime you've been in a place for so long, you grow with a level of attachment to that location. We clearly understand that this is God's will."

Located at 764 W. North St., the new church opened its doors to the public on Saturday during an open house. Community members got to tour the new facility, which formerly housed the Mount Comfort Church of Christ, and attend a reception afterward.

St. James was founded by Squire Jehagen. After he was freed from slavery, Jehagen became a Baptist preacher and later organized a church in 1865. The name of the church comes from a man named James who gave the land on which the church sits today.

"We still don't know his full name, but we know that both our church and the St. James Methodist Church were named after him," Neikeita Mitchell, church administrator, said.

In 1920, St. James' membership stood at about 40. Today, the church's membership has grown to more than 500.

"The church has grown by leaps and bounds," said 48-year St. James veteran Clemmie Williams. "When I first joined there were only 35 or 40 members. Now, we have hundreds of people."

In addition to increased membership, St. James has also expanded its ministry program. The church offers services geared toward youth development, Christian education, community fellowship and hospitality, deacons/deaconesses, evangelism, family development, music/arts and special events.

Smith said the added space of the new facility will enable to the church to further expand its existing ministry program.

"St. James has been a beacon of light and hope for this community for 144 years," he said. "Our purpose has not changed. As long as we are standing, we will continue to be disciples of Christ and to love people as champions of change for the body of Christ."

The former facility at 115 S. Willow Ave. measured nearly 8,800 square feet. The new site, which is 23,000 square feet, will increase the church's membership capacity by about 300.

Edwina Hancock, church secretary, said the added space will also allow St. James to expand its Sunday school program.

"It has much more classroom space, which will be a tremendous help," she said. "We were having to turn people away at our old location because we had outgrown the facility. Now, we'll be able to win more souls for Christ."

Hancock said the interior of the new location is much like the former church.

"We have instruments here like we had at the other church," she said. "Everything is basically the same; we just have more space."

The former church site will remain under St. James' ownership. Though no immediate plans have been made for the historic church building, Smith said the site will likely be used for community purposes.

"We started looking to build a new church in 2004, but we had a couple of setbacks in relation to codes and ordinances," he said. "Ultimately in the end, God opened up his door for us to move to a new facility that met all our needs, and we're thankful for that."

The church's first service in their new facility is scheduled for today with services at 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. and Sunday school at 9:30 a.m. For more information, visit www.stjbc.org or call 442-9288.