Rock solid: Local Baptist church celebrating 150 years

photo Pastor Ronald Cook speaks at a recent worship service.
photo Rock Island Baptist Church recently celebrated its 150th anniversary. The church is located on Camden Avenue in Chattanooga.

Nancy Fitzpatrick recalls the night her church burned.

It was back in 1960, during a time of civil unrest in the South. Nancy was about 9 years old and confused about the scene taking place before her. The Ku Klux Klan, for the second time in a matter of months, had set fire to Rock Island Missionary Baptist Church on Farleigh Street in Chattanooga. Adults were upset; children crying.

"I don't remember being scared," she says. "I just didn't know what was going on. I didn't know why anyone would burn a church. And, mostly, I didn't know where we'd be going to church because, that night, the leaders of the church decided it would be best for safety reasons for the church to relocate."

The church, which relocated to Camden Street in East Chattanooga, where it remains today, is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year with activities ranging from carnivals to gospel and spiritual concerts, dinners and reunions. The celebration, headed by Fitzpatrick, will culminate at the end of the year with the distribution of a book detailing the church's rich history.

"Over the years, the ministry has fluctuated number-wise, but recently we've settled to around 125 to 150, including youth and kids," says the Rev. Ronald Cook, who has served as pastor at the church since 2000. "We have a nice mix of young and old with a large and active youth ministry."

photo In September, the church brought in horses to a vacant lot next door, allowing children to pet and ride the animals.

Still, even after a century and a half, the mission of the church remains the same, he says.

"Our mission today is as relevant today as it was with the first pastor 150 years ago -- providing guidance and wisdom through God's word which, in turn, gives this generation the tools necessary to succeed in this generation," Cook says. "Understand, the 'message' does not change, but our methods must."

It's the strength of the people, the love they share and the church's ongoing mission to spread the word of God that they are celebrating this year, Fitzpatrick says.

Among the celebrations that already have taken place are the Gospel Jubilee Concert, held last March and featuring the music of Cleavant Derricks, who wrote the popular gospel tune "Just A Little Talk With Jesus." Derricks, of Chattanooga, died in 1977 at age 67.

"Derricks was raised in Rock Island Missionary Baptist Church," Fitzpatrick says.

photo The Rev. Ronald Cook holds hands with his wife, Lisa, as they and other Rock Island members walk from the church's former location on Farleigh Street - burned down by the KKK - to their current spot on Camden Street, a distance of about a mile and a half.

Before the church was housed on Farleigh Street in the early 1900s, the members met on a plantation on Highway 58, Fitzpatrick says.

"Negroes worshipped at a brush arbor on the plantation," she says. "About 100 years ago, as the plantation changed and the younger generation received the land, they didn't want the Negroes to worship there, so they went back to their communities and started churches.

"After leaving the plantation, some of the people stopped near a building next to railroad tracks in East Chattanooga and noticed the name 'Rock Island' on a passing train and decided, on the spot, to name their new church 'Rock Island Missionary Baptist Church,'" she says.

These days, pastoring in the East Chattanooga community presents challenges, Cook says.

"With the rapidly changing landscape, changing residential patterns, community unemployment levels, etc., a pastor must meet his congregation at their need level," he says. "I must attempt to make church, our services and the message relevant to those living in our community.

photo Performing at a recent carnival in honor of the church's 150th anniversary are, from left, Jerod Morton, Marcus Lee, Zero Doubt, Tru Saint and Jamaal Reynolds.

"When things got tight, God has always made a way," he says. "I believe this process has added to the continued growth and longevity of this ministry in the East Chattanooga community. We have made community development a major focus of our ministry."

Long-range plans for Rock Island include the development of new housing in and around the church for people wanting safe, comfortable and attractive homes in which to live and raise families, Cook says.

"We believe this process will aid in rejuvenating the East Chattanooga are," he says.

Fitzpatrick, as one of six generations of her family to attend Rock Island, has a strong connection to the church. It's a rich history that Fitzpatrick's mother, Katherine Favors, the longtime church clerk, wanted her daughter to pass down from generation to generation -- not only in their own family, but to the church family as well. Fitzpatrick is trying to achieve that goal through a book detailing the history of the church, which she is putting together.

photo Members of the Rock Island Baptist Church participate in a Bible study.

"I want the 'babies' of the church to have the book so that, 50 years from now, they will have the church history so that they can continue to tell the stories that my mother told me," she says. "Just like I sat on the arm of my mother's chair and listened to her telling me the story, I want them to tell the story of how we celebrated the church's 150th anniversary by handing over the history to them. I tell the children to please tell the story because we won't be here.

"I want the children of the church to come back here in 50 years, no matter where they live, and tell the story of our church."

Contact Karen Nazor Hill at khill@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6396.

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