About Weatherford Memorial Baptist Church
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Born in 1907 to reach a thriving, new community in south Richmond, Va., Weatherford Memorial Baptist Church had declined terribly. By 2000, the surrounding area had changed, but the church had not. Finally, the few members who gathered weekly realized they could not continue.
“We saw what was happening, but we didn’t want to acknowledge it. We were in denial,” lamented Ruth Guill, a former member.
In 2005, Pastor Ricky Hurst, assisted by Glenn Akins, assistant executive director of the Virginia Baptist Mission Board, led Weatherford to embrace an extraordinary dream. Despite offers from other churches to buy their property, the congregation voted to give its $2 million facility to St. Paul’s Baptist Church, a rapidly growing African-American congregation in another part of the city. Weatherford’s gift enabled St. Paul’s to minister at a second site. In the three years since Weatherford Memorial became St. Paul’s South, attendance has grown to over 500.
The desire for a lasting legacy also led Weatherford Memorial to establish an endowment for mission purposes by the Richmond Baptist Association and the Virginia Baptist Mission Board.
From "The Baptist Standard"
February 25, 2010
