Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Mt. Calvary Missionary Baptist Church



Mt. Calvary Missionary Baptist Church is located on Hwy 200, west of downtown Ocala. It is set back from the road, and we've driven by numerous times without noticing it. The other day, however, we saw a large group of black folks exiting the church building and decided we needed to photograph this quaint religious facility.

If you look closely at the second photograph, you'll see, off to the right, a covered area which appears to be for picnics or informal gatherings. Also to the right, off in the distance, is a cemetery. We would guess this church has been around for many years.

Just a click down the road and fronting Highway 200 is College Road Baptist Church, a huge operation covering several acres. College Road Baptist overwhelms Mt. Calvary and that's probably one reason we have not noticed the smaller church previously.

Ocala is in the "Bible Belt," and is Baptist country. I would guess there are between 75 to 100 Baptist churches in our relatively small town. Maybe more.

Mt. Calvary describes itself as "soul winning fundamental."

28 comments:

Judy said...

It's an interesting looking building. The photo's are outstanding.

cieldequimper said...

What? 75 to 100 Baptist churches? What's the population? I love the shade under the majestic tree.

VP said...

This building looks more like a small castle than a church, the place is nice anyway. It's really incredible the number of churches, and this for the Baptist only!

Cezar and Léia said...

Wonderful pictures!
Very interesting post!
Léia :-)

Unknown said...

It doesn't look like a church to me. Very interesting!

B SQUARED said...

I bet their picnics are to die for. And just in case, it's right there.

Hilda said...

I wouldn't have thought it was a church if it weren't for that huge sign. Cute building.

I think my sister and brother would feel right at home in Ocala…

Small City Scenes said...

Sweet church.
I have a blog called 'holy houses' would you mind if I posted this pic on that blog.? Kudos to you of course. MB

Lowell said...

@ Mary SCS - Of course you can post this pic on your blog...I'm honored!

Unknown said...

I love the vibrant colors of these shots.

Lois said...

It does resemble a small castle. I like those small twin "towers"!

Lowell said...

@ Vogon Poet...yes, just Baptist. We've also got Pentecostals, non-denominational (a ton of those), Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian, United Church of Christ, Church of Christ, Methodist (lots of those), etc.

Lowell said...

@ CQ - See note to Vogon Poet. The population within the city limits is about 50,000. But, including people who consider Ocala their home but live out of the actual city limits, there are probably 150,000...I'm not sure of the exact number.

Anyway you figure, it's way more churches than any community needs!

cieldequimper said...

Sounds like the number of pharmacies over here! There is one every couple of hundred metres. I'm really impressed, including all the other churches, that means what? 200 churches all in all? Sorry to be so inquisitive, it's quite fascinating.

crocrodyl said...

Hehe, again something what does not look like a church (like for me).
I love to see the differences between America and Europe at your blog. Thanks!

EG CameraGirl said...

THAT many Baptist churches? Amazing!

I like the simplicity of this building.

Lowell said...

@ CQ - I think 200 churches is a low estimate! One of them, which I'll show soon, is called St. Mary's Baptist Church! Baptists don't believe in "saints," so why the name? I don't have a clue!

Anonymous said...

75-100, that is a LOT of Baptists - I wonder what the collective noun would be for them? A bushel of Baptists, maybe?!

Lowell said...

@ Jackie - I might use another "collective" noun. :-)

Halcyon said...

For some reason, my comments kept getting "eaten" at work. Grrrr...

Anyway, we have plenty of Baptist churches here in Jackson as well - many of them of the Missionary variety. A friend of mine says they are quite jubilant in their worship. It might be fun to stop by one day!

PJ said...

Jacob, since starting PDP I've learned the difference between a cemetery and a graveyard. The latter is part of a churchyard and a cemetery stands alone. I find that knowing that takes some of the scariness out of the idea of a graveyard which is kinda nice if you're going to go around photographing your hometown.

Lowell said...

@ PJ - Thanks very much! That is good to know and I had never heard that before.

Do you know why they put fences around cemeteries and graveyards?

Answer: People are just dying to get in!

cieldequimper said...

LOL, Jacob!

Benjamin Madison said...

Hi Jacob, I enjoy your photos whenever I get a chance to drop in. Thanks for all your kind comments on mine. A few days ago you asked me how I achieved a particular effect on a photo ( the "420" post ). I use High Dynamic Range (HDR) processing for most of my photos these days, which probably accounts for the slightly different look they have. If you're interested you can find out more by looking up "Photomatix" - the name of the software I use.

Lowell said...

@ Ben - Thanks very much for your kind words and I shall look up Photomatix.

tanya ybasan said...

gorgeous!..there lots of Baptist churches too here in the Philippines but unfortunately it doesn't look like that big and nice church..

Mercedia said...

I attended this church over 50 years ago. Went back to it 6/10 for my grandmother's funeral. We buried her in the graveyard. I was surprised how much of it was still the same. My family & ancestors have belonged to that church for over 100 years.

Lowell said...

@ Mercedia: Thank you so much for writing. You have an amazing story...not many people can say they've attended the same church for 50 years!

Best wishes to you!

"Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again." — Henri Cartier-Bresson