Corinth
Baptist Church

1880

Four denominations, one meeting house

A church known as Carrsville Union Church was organized by the Methodists, Christians, Presbyterians, and Baptists together. The original building was a two-story structure raised at a cost of $1,400 — the four congregations shared the lower story, while the upper level housed the Agricola Masonic Lodge. Church minutes show the Baptist fellowship was called Corinth Baptist Church from the very beginning.

The History of Henry County, published in 1883, found the “Carrsville Union Church” standing near Petersburg with about a hundred members between the four congregations — a fair gathering for a prairie crossroads three years after the first nail was driven.

1887

Joining the Tebo Association

Corinth affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention and its state and associational bodies early on. The 1887 minutes of the Tebo Baptist Association record the church’s acceptance into fellowship.

1913

The Baptists take on the building

The Baptists purchased the meeting house from the other three denominations, remodeled it, and dedicated it to the Lord as Corinth Baptist Church. C. N. Neafus was pastor. On September 1, 1944, the church bought out the Lodge’s remaining interest in the building for $150.

1937

The first Vacation Bible School

Bible school has been part of the ministry here ever since, beginning under pastor Nelson Englebrecht.

1950

Worship every Sunday

For seventy years Corinth was served largely by circuit preachers and by college and seminary students who came out on a part-time basis. Not until 1950 did the church gather for worship every single Sunday. Howard Lewis was Corinth’s first full-time pastor.

1959 – 1967

A daughter church at Blairstown

In March 1959, while B. G. Brown was pastor, Corinth began a mission in Blairstown. It grew steadily and was constituted as a church in its own right on June 30, 1967.

1968 – 1970

The sanctuary we meet in today

The church purchased property for a new building in 1968 — barely a third of a mile from where the old meeting house had stood, on the same square mile of ground the congregation had occupied since 1880. The first services were held in it on September 13, 1970, and the dedication service followed on October 4, 1970 at half past two, with Dr. Richard Cheatham as pastor. The congregation sang The Church’s One Foundation and How Firm a Foundation, and John Howerton read the church history.

1976

The note burning

The building cost $35,000. The debt was retired in 1976, and on May 30 the congregation gathered to burn the note. Only once the debt was clear did the work of making it beautiful begin: in the years that followed the basement was finished, sidewalks were laid, and the stained glass windows were put in — the three above the platform that still colour the sanctuary on a bright morning.

July 6, 1980

One hundred years

Corinth marked its centennial with a celebration and a printed history, giving thanks for “a proud and eventful 100 years.” In 1986 the church established a scholarship fund to help students from Tebo Association churches attend a Missouri Baptist college.

Today

Still gathering, every Sunday

The doors open at 9:30 each Sunday morning, as they have for well over a century. Four preachers have been ordained to the gospel ministry from this congregation — C. F. Eaglesfield, Nelson Englebrecht, J. D. Phelps, and Richard Schaffer.