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History
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If you have any pictures or information you wish to add to this page, please email to fuller0717@gmail.com and we will credit you for your contribution to this history page. A Brief History The Rockford Baptist Church constituted December 29, 1849 with nine charter members. Those who began the work of Baptist in Rockford were: William Chancellor, Irven Bailey, Daniel McDaniel, Uriah A. Darden, Isaac Suttle, Nancy Cox, Mary Darden, Louisa Suttle, and Elizabeth McDonald. Brother Joseph Bankston was the first pastor and a frame house, near the "new" cemetery was purchased as a church house. In the early 1900's because this first building was in such bad repair, plans were made to build a new facility for the thriving church family. In the meantime services were held in the courthouse until it burned. Services were then moved to the elementary school and then to the Rockford Methodist Church (this was during 1924-1925). Due to the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. W.B. McCain and Mrs. Carrie Jones Maxwell and her husband four lots were deeded in 1922 to Rockford Baptist Church. Immediately a building was underway and the present sanctuary we completed in 1925. Memorial windows of beautiful stained glass were donated by family members and loved ones at the time the building was constructed. Among the first windows donated, in memory of Miss Bertha Smith, Mrs. T.J. Pennington, Elizabeth Searcy Carter, John N. and Lula Howard, John S. and Sarah C. Bentley, and Thomas Sherie McDonald. Other memorial windows which have been added since those in 1925 included Nellie (Mrs. John) McEwen, Rev. John William Dunlap, Minnie Mallory Boyett, Henry A. Teel, and Spurgen Dunlap. During the middle 1800's Rockford saw many men go away and come home to be a part of the community through the local church. It was during the fifty-fifth annual meeting of the Central Baptist Association, meeting in Rockford, Alabama fifty-six elderly Confederate Veterans held a reunion in the church before the evening service. After "hearty hand shaking and a prayer," the old veterans "threw their arms around each other as they sang and wept." Some have said that "Home is where the heart is," and if this is true, then many have returned to their heart. They have come home from war, prolonged sickness, or to find jobs elsewhere to Rockford and to Rockford Baptist Church. Through the remnants of the Great Depression, War, national crises, and hardships Rockford Baptist Church has continued to be a stalwart institution in Coosa County. We have Come Home to Rockford and found a church which has withstood these 159 years of change, hardship, and even death to serve Jesus in this temporal home of refuge, rest and refueling. Yet, we still long for the greater home-that place called heaven-which is a place of perfect peace and perfect rest. While we wait for our time, we serve together as a "family founded in faith" .Additions to the original building have been made through the years, as additional property has been secured to alleviate being land locked. The church is praying and planning to add additional properties as these become available. For this is our home and we want to continue to serve the Lord in this community and around the world from this little corner in rural Rockford, Alabama. (c) Copyright 2008 JWF-Fuller Designs (Parts have been taken from "A History of Coosa County" and "Alabama Baptist-Southern Baptist in the Heart of Dixie.") From Terry McEwen, former member of Rockford Baptist Church, retired from the United States Air Force and active member of Frazier United Methodist Church in Montgomery, Alabama Rockford was a great community to grow up in. I have many fond memories of Grammar School, P.N. Davis Store, the old movie theater, Crews Drug, McEwen's Garage, the courthouse, Junior and Senior High School, playing football and basketball, and baseball. The people of this community were and still are great people. They supported their schools and sports teams. They came together to make this community a great place to live and grow up in. Rockford Baptist Church is not this building, it is the people who come together to worship here. As I grew up, there where many people in the church who had a great impact on my life. First, my family. My grandmother Nellie Newman McEwen was a pillar of this church when I was growing up. She brought a load of children with her each Sunday. She started a Royal Ambassador program here, one of the first in the state of Alabama. My dad was a deacon and Sunday School Superintendent, and my mother was also an inspiration to me. Many of the school teachers and administrators in the community, and the storekeepers, Sheriff, and the Tax Assessor, and others were also key people in this church. I have to try to mention some of them by name, even at the risk of omitting some very important ones. Mrs. Willamon was my first grade teacher and Mr. Willamon my Grammar School principal. Mrs. Margaret Davis Swindall my fourth grade teacher and Mrs. Lloyd Hacket my fifth grade teacher. In High School, Mr. Arthur Coker was the principal, Coach Clyde Ashley the coach and his wife one of my homeroom teachers. Mr. Lovern Holmes was my VoAg teacher. Mr. P.N. Davis and his dear wife were leaders in this church. Mrs. Betty Jean Griffith Holman was my Youth Choir Director. I had lunch at Crews Drug last week and there was a picture on the was of her as a cheerleader along with Aunt Sara. Miss Emogene Austin and the whole Austin family were continuously a source of strength, as were the Dunlap, Johnson, Johnston, and Maddox families, as well as Mrs. Herndon and many others. All of these and many more had a strong affect on me and others who grew up in this church. I say again, it is the people who make up the church and not this building. Now it was in this building among these church members and leaders that I grew to be a Christian. I have yet to mention the pastors who led us. There have many many strong pastors who led and nurtured and taught me and many others and brought me to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. I was baptized right here beneath my feet. Brother Lester is one of the first pastors I remember. Rev. George Y. Williams was both our minister and our scoutmaster and a great influence on my life (as was his wife Jimmy). Brother Howard Golden and his wife Johnny were great leaders as I was growing up. There are many others. I was asked to direct the choir here one summer until I returned to college. That was a pleasant and memorable experience for me and began a long period in my life where I served several churches and Air Force Chapels as a choir director. With the strong foundation I gained right here in the Rockford Baptist Church, I was well-equipped to serve God and man. I will continue to praise God and sing for Him as long as I have breath and strength to do so. Thank You. |