The Rev. James Shope may have said it best.
“There are not very many things that can celebrate 140 years,” said the pastor of Swars Prairie Baptist Church, which will mark just such an anniversary on Sunday, June 8. “Since our records show the church was started in June, we celebrate every five years in that month.”
Shope is among a long line of pastors to serve the rural Seneca church and at least four of them are scheduled to make appearances at the anniversary celebration. They include Charles Whitehead, of Seneca; Rick Patterson, pastor at Granby First Baptist; Greg Snow, pastor from Diamond; and Todd Decker, hospital chaplain in Fort Smith, Ark.
Shope said he also hopes to have in attendance members of the Volunteer Christian Builders, who helped build a new Swars Prairie Baptist sanctuary in 1995. VCB is a Texas organization that has one goal — the desire to help small Southern Baptist congregations build a building they could not afford without volunteer labor.
Following regular Sunday school at 10 a.m. and worship services an hour later, anniversary Sunday will kick off with lunch at 12:30 p.m. and be followed by a 2 p.m. service, with cake and ice cream to be served at 3:30 to conclude the activities. The regular Sunday night service will not be held.
The small bucolic house of worship is expected to swell from its usual average attendance of 75 to about 200 people.
“The ladies (of our church) think we are going to serve around 200 people and that is kind of our goal anyway,” said Shope, who took over as pastor 12 years ago after moving to the area from Columbus, Kan., where he served as director of missions in nine counties.
Not only is SPBC remarkable for its longevity but, also, for the fact that it is in the same general vicinity where it began in 1868 as a log church just west of the present sanctuary.
The land where the current church and cemetery are located was purchased by three men, who bought one acre apiece for $5 each from the St. Louis and San Francisco railroads, and then deeded it to the trustees of Swars Prairie Mission Church and their successors.
The church, as well as the Swars Prairie area, derived its name from David Swor, who was thought to be the first settler in the area.
The cemetery to this date is maintained through donations. In addition to a flag flying overhead, there is a wrought-iron entrance gate along with a decorative fence.
“I heard the cemetery was there before the church,” Shope said. “We have three Civil War veterans buried there.”
The church and cemetery are located southeast of Seneca by going down Highway 43 to DD Highway, then east 2 1/2 miles.
Even though members of the present Swars Prairie congregation are small in numbers, they loom large when it comes to helping others beyond the church walls.
“It is a very strong mission-minded church,” Shope said. “We have had members of our church go to Indian missions in Arizona to hold vacation Bible schools. We have also had eight different families who have gone to help out with the Volunteer Church Builders. We have always supported Southern Baptist missions.”
Swars Prairie Baptist has been an active supporter of the Shoal Creek Baptist Association and host for some of its annual meetings since the organization’s beginning in 1871. SCBA oversees operations of a wide range of churches throughout Newton and McDonald counties.
Address correspondence to Rich Brown, c/o The Joplin Globe, P.O. Box 7, Joplin, Mo. 64802.
