A Brief History
of
Meadow Grove Baptist Church



Home meetings paved the way for services in a vacant store near the railroad tracks on North College Street.  It was at that time Value Mission was born with 34 Christians banding together on April 30, 1950 for fellowship and service.

When the need for more space became evident the church moved a short distance to a larger building.  In 1961 the church was renamed Second Baptist Church.  In 1964 the congregation voted to relocate to the Meadow Grove subdivision which was being developed in Southeast Brandon on Shiloh Road.

Construction of a new building began, and with a new home came a new name, Meadow Grove Baptist Church.  The first service was held on March 7, 1965, and was attended by area Baptist leaders and many charter members.

A decade later a new sanctuary was constructed adjacent to the original building.  The original sanctuary was renovated to house Sunday School classes.  As attendance increased the church began yet another building program in 1980.  A new education-fellowship wing was added in 1981.

In 1993 an architect from the Sunday School Board recommended that the church buy some land in order to grow past 300 in attendance.  The church owned about three acres at its present location, which was not enough to allow much more growth.  Some forward looking senior men recommended the purchase of land.  The church bought 18 acres on Highway 18 (now Louis Wilson Drive) for $54,000.

After adding a second worship service and maxing out the parking and Sunday School space, the church developed plans and broke ground for a new building  in the summer of 2003.  The first service was held in the new church in November, 2004.  The church members gave above their tithes and raised a million dollars to pay toward the $2.5 million, 29,000 square foot facility.  The church was unified in the move, and the new location is a demonstration of the power of God at work in His people.

Meadow Grove Baptist Church started a second morning worship service in 2007.  Then the church started having two Sunday Schools in the summer of 2008.  The church paid off the debt on the new building in November, 2008. This was the four-year anniversary of being in the new location.  Meadow Grove began 2009 debt-free. 

Meadow Grove Baptist Church continues as a member of an association of churches with shared beliefs.  The Rankin Association, in which Meadow Grove Baptist Church is affiliated, is part of the Southern Baptist Convention.  Affiliation with these bodies of believers of like faith and order enables Meadow Grove to accomplish things that no church can or should do alone, such as education, missions, and disaster relief.

The members of Meadow Grove Baptist Church look forward to a bright future with a desire to be faithful followers of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Church members are dependent on God for leadership, power to serve, and effectiveness in ministry.