Saturday, March 13, 2010
Enon Baptist Church has ties to Hollins
Members will dress like 1865 Virginians, and Civil War re-enactors have been invited to help the church celebrate its 155th anniversary.
ERIC BRADY The Roanoke Times
Members of Enon Baptist Church near Hollins University enjoy dinner before a recent Bible study. The congregation will celebrate its 155th anniversary Sunday with an 11 a.m. worship service and luncheon afterward.
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Lewis Black never had a beard. He grew mutton chops after four years in the Army in the 1950s. But never a beard. "It just never interested me," he said.
To his wife's chagrin, the 80-year-old Roanoker has allowed his silver whiskers to grow over his chin and cheeks over the past six weeks. That's because he and friends from Enon Baptist Church, a small flock that meets on Williamson Road across from Hollins University, are pulling out the stops for their congregation's 155th anniversary.
Enon Baptist members have invited friends and former pastors to their 11 a.m. service on Sunday, and a luncheon afterward.
The Rev. Glenn Giles has invited Civil War re-enactors, one member has prepared a presentation on the church's founder, some members will bring flowers, and others -- like Black -- have grown their facial hair to dress and look like men from the mid-1800s.
Perhaps the most famous fact about the church is that its founder was Charles Lewis Cocke, also the founder of what is now Hollins University.
According to Gary Carrell, who has studied the church's history and was married there in 1981, Cocke founded the congregation with a Sunday Bible study group that met at Hollins.
Over the years, members added Sunday school rooms, a fellowship hall and a parsonage.
At its largest, during the 1970s, the congregation had about 300 members, Carrell said. Now, as younger Baptist families gravitate to churches with more amenities, about 60 attend Sunday services.
Some members have been there their whole lives. The parents of Vicky Carrell, Gary's wife, met at the church, and she has been there since she was a baby.
Lewis and Betty Black are also longtime members. For Sunday's anniversary, Lewis Black plans to wear a flannel shirt and overalls. His wife said she plans to wear a blue-and-white full skirt, a white blouse with ruffles on the sleeves, and a bonnet.
"I'll be glad when Sunday gets here," she said with a laugh, "so my husband can shave the beard off."
Lewis Black will be glad, too. "It's itchy," he said.
