First Baptist Church Baraca Class Lived Up to Its Name
Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer
The sun has set on an Anderson Sunday School Class that lived up to its name for almost a century.
Anderson First Baptist Church’s Baraca Class, the word is Hebrew for “blessing” or “blessed,” was part of a national movement begun in 1890 to get men involved in Sunday School. By the 1930s the movement reached First Baptist in Anderson, where it became not only a local favorite, but a radio program which would air for the next eight decades to provide those unable to attend services to be part of a church.
Two teachers taught the class for most of its history, Anderson Probate Judge Ralph King, for whose name was added to the name of the class, and the Rev. Lawrence Webb, a professor emeritus at Anderson University and an author and editor of a number publications.
Phil Marett, was in charge of music for the last quarter century, following the lead of his father, Dan Marett., Sr., who directed the music in the class for more than 50 years. Other Marett family members have led singing or sung solos as well as in ensembles and in the Baraca Chorus, which performed in other churches and nursing homes.
The class followed the basic church service format, with a bible reading, music and a lesson, or sermon, from the bible.
“We’ve heard from many across the years who depend on Baraca for a regular part of their spiritual nourishment,” Webb said. “Some of these cannot go to church. Others simply do not go to church.”
The class radio program launched in 1934 on WFBC radio out of Greenville, but moved a year later to Anderson radio station WAIM (changed to WRIX in 1978 after an ownership change), which was owned by a member of the class, Wilton Hall, who also owned the local newspaper.
The program was broadcast live until the late 1990s, when the church added an early service which conflicted with the time of the airing. The class was then taped and delivered to the station for broadcast the same morning to continue their tradition of immediacy, with current prayer requests, birthday wishes, and other things which made listeners feel like part of the class.
Those who have been a part of the class, say they will miss the fellowship, the declining membership, which once boasted well over 100 active members and was down to around 15 members when the class decided it was time to end the tradition
“The Baraca Class was a legacy of innovation,” said Dr. Josh Hunt, pastor of Anderson First Baptist Church. “The class is rooted in the desire to be church for people who did not have and longed for church. “They had some innovative people and people of means and people of vision who worked together to make that possible. It’s a beautiful legacy.”