Women 'standing by the church'

Church ladies have long been resourceful fundraisers.

Cedar Plains Christian Church’s history book includes an undated news clipping about a “hen party.” Women unable to attend the event sent a hen or the price of one. Proceeds from that event, plus money from selling candy, sandwiches and quilts, totaled $52.24. The money went to repair the church, which is west of Falkville.

Black women helped put on a fair at the Lauderdale County courthouse in 1860, according to The Florence Gazette. The event was “well gotten up” and the tables supplied with a host of good food, raising $247 for improving their Methodist church, the newspaper said.

Sheffield’s First United Methodist Church reports that in the 1920s, Missionary Society women “stood by the church as usual, baking many lemon pies, and their money was raised in quarters and half-dollars.” They helped build a $17,000 addition.

Women of First Baptist Church, Decatur, cooked dinners for Kiwanis in 1927, netting $335 one month, according to a church history. Much of their money went to support a missionary in China.

Melanie B. Smith

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