Come and be fed | | djournal.com – Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal

Most small communities have an old, often uninhabitable, building that served its community as a country store and much more.

The one in Carolina, Itawamba, Mississippi was much more. If you stand on the front porch and listen carefully you can hear the faint sounds of men playing Rook and talking politics and farming, joined by those of women corralling children and sharing recipes.

Small communities have an ambience, a feeling of familiarity like no other. That sentiment lingers in Carolina.

When the members of Carolina Church decided to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Conference, we needed a new building. We already had a pastor, an active youth ministry and a seniors outreach we fondly called The Gathering. The old store had been empty for several years. It still stood as a testament to a vibrant past and a small communitys need for sustenance.

However, church members believed it could be saved and flipped into a temporary place to gather for worship. As with all reconstruction projects this one had challenges, not the least of which was a snake that was not willing to give up his home, and a kitten that fell through the concrete blocks from the top floor to the bottom and somehow lived to meow about it.

As the renovation began, community members began to stop by and talk with the workers about fond memories of the old store.

Some believe it was built in the 1920s for a meeting place for the Masons. This has not been confirmed, but there is definite proof that Masons met upstairs for decades.

A lot of people remember the store being a polling place and people staying up all night to watch votes being counted during the county elections. Some folks wanted to talk of the coldest cokes in the world coming out of that old cooler and the excitement when the orange slices and creme drops came in for Christmas.

For many years there was a punch board, and for a small fee a punch could yield a prize!

A neighbors hogs escaped once and were found inside the store eating the loaves of white bread while the current owner kept his distance by standing on the counter. He was a man of small stature and the neighbor said they were extra large swine.

The most cherished recollections are of running into someone you hadnt seen in a while and being able to keep up with all the community news at the store. There are lots of colorful and rich stories about the past in these parts.

Neighbors agree, Carolina gets in your soul.

As church family worked together on the project, we began to fondly nickname the building The Store Church and it stuck.

The store was once the hub of the community and now, the officially-named Carolina Church is aiming for that to happen again, but with an added mission.

The current members want to be the church family and home for the spiritually hungry in the community and beyond. Even though the building is small, there are seventy seats in the worship area, more seating in the kitchen addition and plenty of Sunday School room upstairs. There are plans for a larger addition in the future to accommodate the growing youth program and to reinstate The Gathering for the senior adults as soon as possible. Although COVID-19 has canceled some in-church services for the present time, big plans are being made for a dedication day.

Carolina Church has the Bible as its doctrine and their Savior as its head. Theres a warm, comfortable feeling in our church. It has that small, country chapel feel, but the message is BIG.

Everyone is welcome. Come and be fed.

Margaret Mills is a retired school teacher and lifelong resident of the Carolina Community.

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Come and be fed | | djournal.com - Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal