Mount Shady Baptist Church was organized in 1926 by unknown charter members, but some of the oldest members known are Sarah Hall, Willie Hall, Robert Hostilo, Richard Williams, and Henry Edenfield. Before it was named Mount Shady Baptist Church, the church was known as Hudson’s Chapel because of it being named after Rev. Gilbert Hudson, who was pastor of the church for many years.
After Hudson’s death, the church was renamed because of his fear of the church losing members after his passing. Then, the church was named Mount Shady Primitive Baptist Church by Sister Scilla Brown in 1930. For 60 years, the church was a primitive church until it removed “primitive” out of its name in 1990 to be called Mount Shady Baptist Church.
Currently, the church is under the leadership of Rev. Rusty Charles Moore, who preaches the gospel straight from the Bible and teaches the word from the Bible. Under his leadership, Mount Shady Baptist Church usually hosted three services a week before COVID-19. Now, the church only has two services per week due to the pandemic. The services are on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights. Precautions have been implemented since the pandemics appearance last year.
“Sunday night services are suspended for now; we’re not doing supper before church on Wednesday nights. We’re spread out a little more in our Sunday school classes. Deeper cleaning is done by our regular cleaning service,” said Janice Sutton, member of the church.
Sutton loves how her church gets involved in the community through its missions. “In the past, our children’s church has put together shoeboxes for the Operation Christmas Drop, but the past few years, we have been doing things a little more like donations for women shelters.”
For Sutton and her church family, God has played a huge role in impacting them positively through the recent struggles of the pandemic. “God’s love is everything, and without it, we would be nothing. The Mount Shady church family is exactly that: family. The church (the people, not the building) is like your body. When one person hurts, we all hurt. We show each love and support in good and bad times,” said Sutton.
If you want to enjoy what Mount Shady Baptist Church has to offer, you are encouraged to join. All are welcome in this church!