First Baptist Church and Second Baptist Church of St. Louis Perform New Musical
Press Release, September 1, 2008
For Immediate Release
Members of First Baptist Church and Second Baptist Church of St. Louis
Unite on the Historic Occasion of their 190th and 175th Anniversaries
To produce the premiere of a musical entitled, The Man With 20 Hands.
To most people of St. Louis, John Mason Peck is not a household name. Yet to historians and Baptists, he was a legend. Arriving in St. Louis in 1818, he built the first Protestant house of worship in St. Louis not long after Missouri became a territory of the United States of America. His early Baptist church was unusual as it was an interracial congregation, comprised of white members and black members, both slave and free. Peck also began the first Sunday School and day school for African American children and adults. He baptized the first black persons in Missouri and he ordained the Rev. John Berry Meachum, the first African American to be ordained in Missouri.
One historical record said of Peck, “A case could be made that John Mason Peck was one of the greatest of the pioneers to set foot in early St. Louis.” An early Governor of Illinois cited Peck as the single-most reason that slavery was defeated in that state. One early St. Louis pastor said of him, “Mr. Peck was a master-spirit among the pioneers. Perhaps no man of his class did more than he to guide the thoughts, mould the manners and form the institutions of the West. He was an embodiment of the Western character.”
Cast members from First Baptist Church and Second Baptist Church of St. Louis, in a first collaborative effort, are uniting to perform a new musical telling the story of John Mason Peck. Peck was instrumental in founding both churches. Including many African American spirituals as well as other songs, the cast will tell his story in music and song. The musical was written collaboratively by Stephen Jones and Brad and Marilyn Short.
The two performances, free and open to the public, will be held on Sunday, Sept. 21, 2:30 p.m. at Second Baptist Church, 9030 Clayton Road, 1/3 mile west of the St. Louis Galleria; and on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2:30 p.m. at First Baptist Church, 3100 Bell at Cardinal Streets between Delmar and Martin Luther King Streets.
After each performance, the host church will celebrate its relationship with daughter churches around the St. Louis area. For more information, visit this website: www.2ndbc.org The pastor of First Baptist Church is the Rev. Henry Midgett and the pastor of Second Baptist Church is Dr. Stephen D. Jones. The church telephones are (FBC/St.L: 314/533-8003) (SBC/St.L: 314/991-3424).
Posted by Linda Novak on Sep 21, 2008 at 18:14:10 | Article Path: Home: About: Press Releases: First Baptist Church and Second Baptist Church of St. Louis Perform New Musical
