Martin church homecoming draws hundreds
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WEAKLEY COUNTY, Tenn. — A 129-year-old tradition marks another year in West Tennessee and brings home hundreds of people from all over the world. The Martin Homecoming is hosted yearly by the Oak Grove Missionary Baptist Church. “On the third Sunday of August every year there was a great celebration, and it was a celebration of people that came home to be a part of Oak Grove services,” homecoming participant Lulu Stevens said. “There was no jobs for the African Americans during this time so they had to leave and relocate,” Wilma Stevens said. “It started out as a celebration, and we would use it as a fundraiser to raise money to improve on our church.” “The great depression was going on and consequently times were really hard,” said Willis Brown said, who has been coming to the homecoming since the 1930s. “I can remember as a kid standing on the street corner and beg for the church with the cup.” Church members said the meaning of homecoming has changed over the years but that the change has been for the good. The Weakley County training school was the only school in the county for African Americans until schools integrated in the 1960s. “All the people would come back home, not only because they went to Weakly County training school, but because they are a part of Oak Grove Baptist Missionary Church,” Stevens said. And now in the 21st Century, Homecoming has truly come full circle. “Homecoming is a combination of things, but the true meaning of homecoming is it originally started in the church,” Pastor Jackie Thomas said. The festivities started on Friday night and ended Sunday afternoon with the final homecoming service.
