Last Saturday night, the bicentennial celebration began with a special service that included a history of the church and a time of reminiscence among members. “There were 11 members in 1819 that were brought together and started the church,” Morrison told the OBSERVER. “We were also involved in both the West Portland Baptist Church and the Westfield Baptist Church being started. In terms of our building itself, I believe they first started meeting here in 1867, so the building is relatively new,” he laughed.

Over the years, the building has undergone several changes. “Our stained glass windows are in memory of different members over the years and the large bell in the bell tower was dedicated and presented to the church in 1887,” Morrison explained.

“Right now, we are in the midst of a major ongoing project with steeple repairs and with our bell tower,” Morrison added. “The scaffolding is up, and they’ve been working out there for a number of weeks, which I’m hoping reminds us that we’re always in the process of building, renovating and improving, whether we’re talking about the congregation or the building.”

Indeed, Morrison has seen many changes in the congregation and the community over the past 40 years. “We have right around 40 people in our congregation,” Morrison told the OBSERVER. “We were, at one time, much larger than that. We’ve seen people move out of the area and choose to go to other churches with different philosophies, ministries and music. We have seen ups and downs, and right now we are probably at the lowest in our services.”

Submitted Photo Presently, Brocton Baptist Church, located at 33 W. Main St., is undergoing extensive repairs to its steeple, one of several changes the 150-year-old building has undergone.

Despite the dip in attendance, the congregation continues to cultivate compassion and community in their mission to share their faith with others. “When I first came to the church, we had all kinds of activities: something going on almost every single day and night, and I really think we were trying to do something really good,” Morrison explained. “But there were people so involved at the church that they didn’t really have the opportunity to be focusing and growing as God intends within our own families, our own homes, with our neighbors and people in other activities. Our emphasis now is on evangelism, and discipiling has been where I think it ought to be done: in our everyday relationships with people.”

Saturday’s service celebrated exactly these kinds of relationships, as well as the shared history of those who have attended Brocton Baptist Church over the years. Brothers Tim and Jerry Marshall shared memories of their grandfather, who pastored the church from 1944 until he passed away in 1974. “Since 1944 until 2019, the church has had just three pastors,” said Morrison. “That’s pretty unusual!”

Saturday’s service concluded with an ice cream social, thanks to Fieldbrook Foods, who donated ice cream to the event. Sunday’s service included David Lewis, a former missionary at Bethany Baptist Camp, special music by Garrett Stevens, and a message from Pastor Allen Moravec, who served as pastor following Pastor Marshall. Nancy Jopek, who grew up at Brocton Baptist Church, served as accompanist for both services.

In addition to glorifying God and building relationships, Morrison said that outreach continues to be a priority for the church moving forward. “We want to see our support of missions continue to be strong and increase,” he said. Currently, the church supports several missionaries abroad, as well as Bethany Baptist Camp in Sinclairville and a similar camp in Tennessee that ministers to surrounding urban communities.

“We want to minister; we want to be there for people, whether it’s as a church or as members of the church,” said Morrison. All are welcome to attend Sunday services at 10:30 a.m. and 6 p.m., as well as Wednesday night prayer and Bible study.

“200 years is a milestone, but it’s not the finish line,” said Morrison. “It would be my desire that we would be just as excited as a congregation as the ones who started here 200 years ago.”