Last week's column told about my character portrayal of William E. Hatcher, the noted old-time preacher, when he recently had a return engagement in Baltimore where he served as a pastor in the 1860s. This week's column tells about a return visit to Chester, Va. In September, Pat Boyd, director of the WMU at Chester Baptist Church, invited Hatcher to talk about Baptist principles and to emphasize state missions. Little did she or practically anyone else realize that the 2008 engagement actually marked a return to Chester for the preacher who died in 1912.
Arline McGuire, Chester historian, greets Dr. Hatcher on his return.
Likely the only member of the congregation who knows the connection is Mary Arline McGuire, the church historian. Her sparkling eyes lit up when Hatcher walked into the sanctuary. She is a walking encyclopedia about the church and Chesterfield County. When the church celebrated its centennial in 2005, she led a small army of fellow members to plan a creative and exciting anniversary celebration.
The WMU of Chester is older than the church. In late 1904 it was organized by a remarkable young woman, Maud McLaurine Hurt, the wife of Alvin Judson Hurt, a local physician. The young couple had married in 1894; and in 1904 they were living in a hotel in the village of Chester. The story has been handed down that the hotel owner's daughters put on a little entertainment in the hotel's parlor for which $1.36 was collected. The girls gave the money to a building fund for a future Baptist church in the village.
The influential Miss Maud with her husband, A. J. Hurt.
Miss Maud heard her doctor-husband say that there were many children living in the neighborhood who had no Sunday school to attend. Most of the children came from families of modest means and felt they could not be properly dressed to attend a Sunday school. Dr. Hurt urged his wife to help start a Sunday school which would be inviting to all children.
Miss Maud went beyond a Sunday school. She also wanted to help constitute a Baptist church. She was advised to call upon the services of William E. Hatcher, who was known as a church organizer and fundraiser and who, at the time, was living in Fork Union where he had begun his academy. On Halloween in 1905, Hatcher came to Chester and led a little band of 19 Baptists to constitute a Baptist church. He preached on the text of Hebrews 10:25: “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together … but exhorting one another.” Some 103 years later, almost to the day, Hatcher “reappeared,” so-to-speak, in Chester to see what had transpired after such a long absence. He found that for over a century the good people had taken heed to his Scripture selection and had continued to assemble.
Chester Baptist Church, ca. 1910.
He certainly was amazed. The little band of constituent members had enlarged across the years. In 1909, when it had only 60 members, it had built a handsome Gothic-style church house which was valued at $8,500. Today Chester Church has over 1,100 members and occupies a magnificent collection of brick buildings on School Street. A fairly recent addition known by everyone as the Great Hall connects the educational building with the sanctuary, an impressive room of contemporary style. In the vestibule is a small model of the old church building which has been replaced with modern facilities.
If Hatcher had stayed long enough, he would have heard about the large enrollments in the annual Vacation Bible School or the “love offerings” which enabled the Chester Church to help build three churches in faraway Pakistan, Congo and Cambodia. He would have been told about the terrible natural disasters which have beset our planet in the last few years and how Chester Baptists have been quick and generous to respond to the needs in places far from their village.
He also would have toured “the village” and noticed that it has become increasingly difficult to find “old Chester.” The community has enlarged from spillover growth of the Metro Richmond area.
On his recent visit Hatcher did not meet Miss Maud, who has been gone from the scene for over 50 years; but he did see her imprint upon the church, which has survived and thrived. He also caught her spirit residing in so many of the dedicated members, men and women, old and young.
Miss Maud was a remarkable woman. Some have called her “the Mother of Chester.” Besides organizing the WMU and the church, she served as superintendent of the Junior Department of the Sunday school for over 40 years. It has been observed that she had a part in the organizing of every good work in Chester. Her influence was felt in the school, public library, garden club, Red Cross and Woman's Club.
In an old scrapbook, Miss Maud had left behind a handwritten note which Arline McGuire, as church historian, enjoys sharing with fellow church members. The note reads: “We have faced many crises in the history of our church but through all, the church has come through. We can learn from those who have gone before. Expect great things from God. Now we must keep the faith.”
In October 2007, Gwynn Davis began an interim pastorate, following the retirement of Ed Stansfield who had given superior pastoral leadership to Chester for 15 years. Just as Miss Maud told them, the good people of Chester Baptist Church are keeping the faith.
Fred Anderson is executive director of the Virginia Baptist Historical Society and the Center for Baptist Heritage and Studies. He may be contacted at [email protected] or at P.O. Box 34, University of Richmond, VA 23173.