The Full Story
The history of this church dates back to 1900 when it was established as a result of a decision of the leader's council consisting of members of Antioch and Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist churches. The churches agreed to join and form the Union Missionary Baptist Church. For the first 21 years of the church's history, beginning with Pastor R.W. Rose, 7 ministers served as pastors. In 1921, Rev, J.R. Jamison was elected pastor and served 31 years.
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Union became a beacon of light in the Morrilton community and throughout the state of Arkansas. The church provided food and clothing pantries, educational scholarships and other needed resources. Union has produced countless leaders, educators, and influential figures such as the 1st African American Miss Arkansas, Lencola Sullivan, who still supports the church to this day!
On July 15, 1937, the church was destroyed by fire. The new building was completed in 1939. It was built in a popular construction style of the time in the AR River Valley, mixed masonry. Mixed masonry utilizes rocks, bricks, and concrete to construct buildings. Three pastors served leading up to Pastor Henry L. Anderson, elected in 1992. After the resignation of Pastor Anderson in 2019, Pastor Jonathan Hull assumed the role until our current pastor, "Pastor G" was elected.
The Bentley Street location was destroyed by fire in July 2021 in the process of searching for a new pastor. Since the arrival of Pastor Gregory Raglon II, we have relocated our church off Interstate 40 and continue the historic work of Union MBC by serving the community in multiple ways as well as winning souls. Most recently we launched a non-profit, The Macie Sullivan Community Center, that is open weekly to provide service to all people in Conway County, Arkansas!
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Become a part of the Union family today and help us continue building a history of changing lives!