In 1986 a group of Christians sought God’s guidance. They met for weeks at Jack and Myrtle Styron’s home. On June 18 1986 the church was named Maranatha. This means O Lord come. That night Reverend Mike Thompson became the church’s first pastor. Maranatha Baptist Church was born.
The congregation initially worshipped in an old Western Auto building. Sumrall and Daisy Cooley donated land. This land was halfway between Mize and Mt Olive. It was on highway 35. A groundbreaking ceremony took place on November 9 1986. Five months later the first service was held in the new sanctuary. This was Easter Sunday April 14 1987. The building had about 12000 square feet of floor space. A parsonage was built in 1990. Dewey and Maxine Sullivan donated the land for it.
Over the years Maranatha Baptist Church had several pastors. Reverend Sidney Davis served for 13 years. Reverend Danny Adams followed him. Brother Sidney Davis returned as interim pastor. Brother Calvin Price then became the full-time pastor. He served until March 2018. Brother Randy Clark was the interim pastor. Brother Rudy Jackson became pastor on September 30 2018. He remains the pastor today.
The church also had many ministers of music. Doug Ware was the first full-time minister. He served until 2015. Jennifer Adams served until September 2018. Ronnie Thompson is the current full-time minister of music. The church also had several youth ministers. Chris Thomas was the first. Others followed including Jacob Niblett Joseph Kuykendall and Scott Robertson. Caleb McCord served until December 2019.
To accommodate its growing congregation Maranatha Baptist Church built a family life center in 2003. This center includes a large fellowship hall. It also has a kitchen classrooms and a gymnasium. Maranatha Baptist Church serves the community. They provide benevolent gifts a food pantry and a bus ministry. They also support foreign missions. They support Baptist Medical and Dental Missions International. They also support Baptist Children’s Village and the Southern Baptist Cooperative Program. They assist Gideons International and Harbour Evangelism. Short-term missionaries are sent yearly to Honduras and Nicaragua. They provide medical and dental services and spread the gospel.
Maranatha Baptist Church has been blessed for over 30 years. May God continue to bless this body of believers. They seek to serve Him in the years to come. This is the story of Maranatha Baptist Church a testament to faith perseverance and community service.