The Story of Miflin Baptist Church
(See pictures of our mobile chapel under the photos section)
The history of Miflin Baptist Church is the story of the providence and faithfulness of God. It is the help of sister Baptist churches, particularly our mother church, the Lagoon Baptist Church. It is the guidance, resources, and support offered by the Baldwin Baptist Association, and the Alabama Baptist State Convention. It is God bringing particular individuals into the life of the church at just the right time. It is the love, prayers, tears, labor, patience, faith, and vision of the people of the church. It is the story of persistence through the trials and triumphs of the birth and growth of a new church in the Miflin Community of the rapidly growing South Baldwin area in the 1990s.
The nucelus of the church was a small group which first met in the Summerdale Community Center under the leadership of Pastor Edward Lyrene in the summer of 1990. With the help of the Baldwin Baptist Association and the new work department of the Alabama State Convention, it was determined that the Miflin area was a good place to begin a new work. A survey of the area was conducted in early spring of 1991. Easter Sunday of that year the first service was held in the Miflin Community Center with forty eight people present. After several months of searching for a sponsoring church, Lagoon Baptist Church agreed to be our mother church.
Rev. Buddy Wallace (pictured at left) was the man God used to bring this about. Six acres of land was purchased from Donald and Shirley Armstrong behind the Miflin Community Center and the Lay Cemetery. Application was made to the state convention for a mobile chapel. The chapel arrived and was set up just in time for Easter Sunday of 1992.
The realities of church life in the 1990s in South Baldwin County saw slow growth. People came, some stayed, others left. The church ministered to many troubled youth. Outreach ministries were carried out at the Loxley Work Release Center, the Baldwin County Mental Health Centers in Robertsdale and Foley, and the Foley Nursing Home. Lagoon Baptist Church supported us with prayers, money, counsel, and people. Through it all, God was faithful.
Constructing a pernament building was a major effort for a small group, but the faithful prayers and gifts of members and friends of the church made it possible to begin construction in early Spring of 1995. The building was dedicated in January of 1996.
Just as the building was nearing completion, God brought a wave of older experienced members to the church. The talents, gifts, and inspiration freely given by these members has been a joy to behold. These good folks have provided leadership in Sunday School. They have taken the lead in writing of a constitution, bylaws, and a manual of policies and procedures. With their help we adopted a workable church budget. A Senior Saints group was organized. An AWANA program for children and youth was launched. A long range planning and building committee projected plans for the future. Choir practices every Sunday before the evening service.
There remains work to be done. Miflin Baptist Church faces two major challenges: (1) ministry to children and youth and their families and, (2) ministry to the many retired adults in our community.
Two guiding principles continue to keep the church close to God: (1) the church is the work of God and "unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain that build it." Miflin Baptist church must seek to be more and more a praying church. (2) The joy of the Lord is our strength." Miflin Baptist Church is a singing church. We love to sing and the joy of the Lord is what keeps us going. We can sing because we know that whatever comes that the Lord is on His throne and that He does indeed work out "all things for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose."
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