Oak Grove C.M.E. Church west of Bruce is known as the “small church that’s doing big things.”
One example would be the church’s ICU ministry. While they only have 26 on the roll, the church utilizes the first Sunday of each month alternating between the ICU waiting rooms at Baptist Hospital in Oxford and North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo to deliver a home-cooked meal.
“We take a full course meal – meat, vegetables, roll, sweet tea, the works,” said Pastor Willie Nichols. “We minister and feed the people in the ICU. It’s a great chance to serve people.”
A few months back they were at the ICU in Tupelo when Nichols met Bruce Mayor Rudy Pope and his family.
“His grandson was in there,” Nichols said. “It was good to visit and pray with them. He invited me to come visit at City Hall in Bruce.”
Nichols has been a pastor for 10 years and is now in his second at Oak Grove, located off Hwy. 330 near the Skuna Valley Community at the Calhoun-Yalobusha line.
“I’ve always been a part of church. I’ve been a Sunday School teacher, treasurer. When God called me, I said ‘I’m working for you,’ but he had a higher calling for me. I fought it for a while, but you can’t run from God.”
Nichols, who works a full-time job at Franklin Corp. in Houston, said he loves serving as pastor.
“Helping the people, teaching and educating about God, I love all of it. It’s something that if God calls you, you will love to do.”
Oak Grove meets the second and fourth Sundays each month and averages around 15 in attendance. The small number doesn’t phase Nichols, who said it’s all about the message.
“If I have 100 people or just one, I’m still going to preach the same,” he said. “Whatever God gives me, that’s what I’m going to give to the people. When God gives you a message, it’s going to fall on whomever it needs to fall on.”
Nichols describes his style of preaching as more of a lecturer.
“I put a lot of emphasis on the scripture. If God gives it to me, I may do a little hoopin’ on the end, but I focus on the scripture and what God said.”
“It’s funny, I’ll study all week for my message then sometimes I get here and right before I get up God changes my message,” Nichols said. “What’s amazing is when God changes that message, afterwards, someone will come up and say that was for me.”
Oak Grove C.M.E. has a long history, but the current church building, a small brick structure that sits in the middle of a field just at the bottom of the hill from Mt. Zion Church, was built around 15 years ago.
Nichols described his church members as “loving people” always willing to give.
Nichols, 49, lives in Pheba, more than an hour away, where he was born and raised. His wife Francine works in the restaurant industry and his daughter Tosha teaches with Tupelo Schools.
“The first few times the commute seemed kind of long, like we would never get here, but after two years it don’t feel that long anymore,” Nichols said. “Once you get to loving the people in your church, things don’t seem as hard to do.”
Nichols said he’s had the opportunity to move to a different church over the past year, but chose not to.
“As long as the people love me and I love them, I’d rather stay here and try to grow this church.”