About

The Antioch Baptist Church historical highway marker dedication ceremony will take place on Saturday, August 3, 2024. This date was selected to coincide with Antioch Baptist Church’s annual Homecoming celebration, which has been held on the first weekend in August for more than 100 years. Church Homecoming is a tradition that grew out of the Great Migration of African Americans from the rural South to the urban North during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is a festive occasion that affords former residents of the area the opportunity to maintain connections with their roots. Societal changes of the 21st century have had a negative effect on church homecoming attendance and the suspension of activities during the Covid-19 pandemic further impacted the tradition. Antioch held its first post-pandemic homecoming in 2023 and is looking forward to having the homecoming tradition be stronger than ever with a weekend of events that will include the highway marker dedication and homecoming church service.
Antioch is the oldest black church in Middlesex County and will be celebrating its 158th anniversary in 2024. Four area churches came out of Antioch: Calvary, Immanuel, Zion Branch, and Lebanon. It is expected that the highway marker dedication will attract persons who have family roots in those four churches as well as history buffs who are interested in Antioch’s rich history. Both Antioch and the Middlesex Museum plan displays that will illuminate that history.