JACKSONVILLE–J.T. Taylor, 93, recently was busy looking for his old overalls to wear to a special event.
He plans to attend the 117th homecoming celebration of Franklin Street Baptist Church in Jacksonville May 18, and attendees have been invited to wear old-fashioned clothes to the 10:45 a.m. service. The worship service will feature traditional preaching and singing and will be followed with a free lunch with plenty of fellowship and, of course, homemade desserts.
On May 17, 1908, 10 people met and organized Twenty-First Street Baptist Church on the corner of 21st and Fisher Streets in the northeast Springfield neighborhood.
About five months later, the church moved to a building on the corner of 16th and Franklin Streets and became Franklin Street Baptist Church. In 1939, construction began on the current sanctuary on that same corner. The church held its sanctuary dedication in 1941 and still holds a steady presence in the heart of Jacksonville.
‘An oasis and a lighthouse’
At age 10, Taylor was baptized in the new sanctuary in 1942, joined the church and began leading the congregational singing as a teenager.
Taylor went on to serve as a minister of music in a few Baptist churches before returning to retire at Franklin Street, where “They still sing out of the hymn books.”
He admits it’s hard to see the state of his old neighborhood. His former home was torn down.
“It’s just a vacant lot now. It breaks my heart to see so many homes boarded up, and there are several homes right next to Franklin Street that are boarded up.”
Taylor is thankful the church is still going strong. He gives a lot of credit to the leadership of Pastor Terry Gore, and his wife, Bobbie.
In 1988, Gore returned to Franklin Street after serving as the church’s youth director in the 1960s.
While Gore served 18 years at San Jose Baptist Church in Jacksonville as youth leader and associate pastor, people from Franklin Street often asked him if he would consider coming back. After much prayer, he returned to become Franklin Street’s 22nd pastor and would later become its longest serving pastor at 37 years.
“I felt like the inner city was a great challenge because at that time many inner-city churches were closing,” Gore said.
“I realized this was a community that needed an oasis and a lighthouse,” he said.
Right away the young pastor went knocking on doors to invite people to church, resulting in many professions of faith in his first 18 months as pastor.
Our goal is to win people to Jesus Christ and to disciple them and to build a fellowship of sweet-spirited people.
“Our goal is to win people to Jesus Christ and to disciple them and to build a fellowship of sweet-spirited people,” he said.
‘Godly, faithful people’
Through the years, A.C. Soud Jr., retired judge of the 4th Judicial Circuit of Florida, has visited and even spoken at the church several times.
“It’s not a large church, but the members are godly, faithful people who are sweeter than I can say,” said Soud, a childhood friend of the pastor.
Even with challenges that inner-city churches can experience, Soud, who still serves as a senior judge in Florida, said, “This church is welcomed in the neighborhood,” and church leaders look for ways to meet community needs.
Ron Davis, senior adult director and deacon chairman, said the church’s Heart to Heart monthly senior ministry provides neighborhood residents with a fellowship opportunity. On a recent Monday night, more than 80 people attended the dinner and enjoyed gospel music.
“We want to offer hope and a chance for salvation for folks who are looking and seeking and trying to find their way,” Davis said.
The church also reaches children who live in the inner-city neighborhood. For them, the church becomes a refuge.
“Little children come at all hours of the day and night,” Gore said.
“They knock on the door, and Bobbie meets them and brings them in, and some of them are hungry so we feed them,” he said.
“They rely on us. They come and often show us their report cards,” Bobbie Gore said.
Most of the children come by themselves without their parents on Sundays.
“I always tell them, ‘I know you could be anywhere else, but you came to church today,’” the pastor’s wife said.
“Our ministry here is greatly for these neighborhood children,” she said. “We just want to be a little small part of their lives when God lets us.”
Cindy Rhoads, Sunday School director, agrees.
“We plant the seeds, and we may not get to see (the children) all the time, but even if they come at least once, maybe it will grow,” Rhoads said.
About 15 children attend Sunday School each week. The church usually has about 80 in overall attendance on Sundays for worship with about 45 in Sunday School, she said. On Easter Sunday, 149 people attended.
Rhoads, a second-generation member, and her husband, David, make the almost hour-long drive in from Middleburg each Sunday.
“You can feel the Holy Spirit when you walk in, and you feel the love. I think that’s what people need, and that’s why they keep coming back,” she said.
Member Billie Fouty agrees. After her husband, Mike, former deacon chairman, died in February 2023, she said the church supported her as she grieved.
“Terry and Bobbie are always there when you need them. They always come; no matter what time it is, you can call on them,” she said, adding that the pastor is a “good preacher and a good shepherd.”
Associate pastor Jason Dennis, a third-generation member, is excited about the church adding more activities this summer for members and community residents. The church will start back with its Wednesday night services and will begin a movie night next month.
“As the church grows, it gives us more opportunities to share Christ with people,” he said.
We both feel like this is exactly where God wants us to be.
“It will be exciting to see what God’s going to do through these additional activities as we open the doors up more and bring people in,” Dennis said.
The Gores, who have been married 55 years, agree that their 37 years at the church have flown.
“It’s gone by so fast that it’s hard to think we’ve been here this long, but we both feel like this is exactly where God wants us to be,” Bobbie Gore said.