It was a packed house. It’s what you’d expect with a celebration 150 years in the making. For brother Wilbert Alexander, many years he’s spent walking the halls of Liberty Missionary Baptist Church. This hallway echo’s with the building’s rich history
“Life is a day by day situation and a lot of things happen that you can’t help and some things happen that you may be responsible for. So, it’s important that people know these people had the faith to keep on going,” said Liberty Missionary Baptist Church Member Wilbert Alexander.
The church was a part of the Underground Railroad. With the Ohio River close by, slaves had the chance to get to a safer place.
“This was just a housing for them until they could move on to safer places,” said Alexander.
Slaves hid in the basement of the church or in a room above where the choir sits today.
“This was a place they could come and trust someone to hid them out until they could move on,” said Alexander.
“There’s always a haven, a safe haven,” said Liberty Missionary Baptist Church Member Doris Moore.
Food and any financial help the church could give was put in the hands of slaves. Along with it, came the dream of a better life.
“Those people had faith that if they came through here and went to other places they could find family homes and raise their children. So we are elated today to just be apart of that celebration,” said Alexander.
With the hope and faith to continue on, the same message is relayed every Sunday…even 150 years later.
“That’s our theme now, to pray for those that are lost in this community,” said Alexander.
“Even though we don’t want to go back, it’s exciting and it’s just a blessing it really is. Just to know god has been so good to us down through the years,” said Moore.
