Kent Mason, a deacon at Olivet Free Will Baptist Church, shares a moment with the church’s pastor, Bishop Albert L. Ingram, during the worship service Sunday at the church in Carbondale.

Mason said he started attending Olivet with his mother in the 1940s.

“I do believe that [at] Olivet, we all love each other,” he said. “I mean, I can go talk to any brother, any sister and they say they’ll help me. They’ll do things for me. I mean that’s what you want. You want to be a family. And we are a family.”

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This year, the church celebrates 150 years in the Carbondale community.

Staff photographer Jacob Wiegand can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @JacobWiegand_DE. 

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