‘Loving God. Loving people’

Friendship Baptist Church celebrates 170 years

On May 29, 1847, nine people gathered at the home of Mr. and Mrs. James Meeks, in the Friendship community, three miles south of Springdale. The Friendship United Baptist Church of Christ was formed.

On Sunday, Friendship Baptist Church celebrates its 170th anniversary, making it one of the oldest churches in the area.

The birthday celebration service begins at 10:30 a.m., “a song service that will include old hymns of praise and worship,” according to Mike Sypult, worship minister. With a theme of “Old-Fashioned Sunday,” people are encouraged to dress as “they would back 100-plus years ago.”

RELATIONSHIP

“Friendship Church’s mission has always been to help people discover a personal relationship with Jesus Christ,” Sypult wrote in a church history. “We believe that great people committed to the Great Commission and the Great Commandment will grow a great church. It is our prayer that God will use us to impact Northwest Arkansas and the world with the good news of God’s grace and love.”

“We want people to know Jesus Christ personally,” Sypult said. “You won’t get into heaven because of religion. The only way you’ll get into heaven is with a relationship with Christ.

“We have a slogan: ‘To make heaven a bigger place,’” he continued. “In heaven, there won’t be Baptists and Methodists and Lutherans. There will be saved people who trusted in Christ, who have a relationship with him.

“People ask, ‘What’s a pastor do? What’s the church about?’,” Sypult said. “We’re in the people-development business. We want to help find them God’s vision for their lives.”

CHARTERED

Nine people chartered the church in 1847, according to the

church history: R.C. Hill, J.F. Mitchell, Joseph Baker (the first pastor), Rhoda Baker, James White, Meeks, Issac Horton, Nancy Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Meeks. The group met in members’ homes until 1848, when a hewn-log church building was constructed and used for worship until 1860.

That year, the church bought property from John W. Stafford, including land for a cemetery. In 1860, a more substantial woodframe church building was built north of the cemetery, the history reads.

In 1888, after several name changes, the church became Baptist Church at Friendship. Friendship Baptist Church was added to the Washington Madison Baptist Association in 1941 and is a cooperating member of the association of churches to the present day.

The church built a brick worship center on the site in 1985 and held its first worship services in 2003 in its current location on East Robinson Avenue, the history records.

While the members enjoy their current 350-seat worship center, the congregation remains humble, parking each week in the church’s gravel parking lot.

“We are more interested in building people than building buildings,” Sypult said.

David Drymon has been a member of Friendship Baptist Church since the fall of 1984. He remembered his stepfather helping to remove hickory trees from the cemetery area to expand the church’s parking lot. The trees then were used as firewood to heat his home.

“I had been raised in the Baptist Church all my life,” he said. “In my younger years, I attended a Missionary Baptist Church. My mom went [to Friendship] and said the pastor talked the word of God. That’s where I’ve stayed.

“Things go along and there are cultural changes, and you do things different ways, but you still say the same thing.”

MISSIONS

Asked to use one word to describe his church, Drymon chose “missions.”

God gave the church the Great Commission: “Go out in all the world and teach others in his name,” he paraphrased.

This summer, the church plans mission trips to Mexico, Kansas City and the Dominican Republic, Sypult said. And the youth will be a big part of the delegations.

The church also places great emphasis on its youth programs, which serve about 60 to 70 kids each Wednesday night, Sypult said.

“By the time they are seniors in high school, we try to get them on at least one international mission trip to open up their perspectives about the world,” Sypult said. “There is a great need out there.”

“Ancient churches become museums for God,” Sypult said, noting his church’s long history. “But God’s not interested in museums. God is interested in churches that are doing work.”

Drymon joined the youth on four mission trips in the United States. “You got to see [the youth] grow in the Lord themselves. They really opened up and talked about the Lord.

“We are not there to preach to people. We are there to show love. And when you show love to other people, they want to know what you’ve got.”

Another church motto is “Loving God. Loving people,” Sypult said.

Courtesy photo The 1909 children’s Sunday school class of Friendship Baptist Church gathered for a picture. The Springdale church — one of the oldest in Northwest Arkansas — celebrates its 170th anniversary Sunday.

Courtesy photo Friendship Baptist Church in Springdale held its first worship service in its current building on East Robinson Avenue on May 18, 2003. While the members enjoy the 350-seat worship center, the congregation remains humble, parking each week in the...

Courtesy photo Friendship United Baptist Church of Christ purchased land in the Friendship community east of Springdale to construct its second building and found a cemetery. The cemetery, now operated by a foundation, is a landmark for the area, said Mike Sypult,...