Published: March 01, 2008 08:37 pm         

Sophia fried pies fund missionary work

The gospel, or “good news,” never tasted so good as when you’re supporting a missions project for Sophia Freewill Baptist Church. Just ask anyone who has ever laid a taste bud on one of the ladies auxiliary’s famous fried pies.

“They are legendary. Everybody knows about them,” said Ilene Barr, president of the ladies auxiliary who coordinates the monthly deep-frying of the half-moon shaped culinary gems.

“Everybody wants them. We have a day care behind the church. People will sometimes smell those and say, ‘Can we buy some pies?’ I’ve known people to freeze them and mail them to Florida and North Carolina. They get there just fine.”

Barr’s recitation of the filling options is enough to saturate any mouth with yearning — apple, cherry, chocolate, coconut, lemon, peach, pineapple and raisin, among others.

The endeavor began when the late Thelma Paisley moved to the area from Radford, Va., in the early 1940s, Barr said. Paisley, who owned a grocery store in Midway, brought with her a special recipe for dough.

Several ladies got together and began frying pies in Paisley’s kitchen. The project would eventually outgrow the confines of the kitchen and spill over to the church in the early 1950s.

Though the number of pies fluctuates each month, Barr noted she and the other ladies fried 500 of them Feb. 26. At one time, it was not unusual to fry 1,500 of them in a day, she asserted.

Sales of the pies, which fetch $1.50 apiece, send an average of $350 per month to church missionaries in Africa’s Ivory Coast, Brazil, Hungary, Japan, Uruguay, Venezuela — and Danese.

“We also have home missions here in the United States,” Barr clarified. “We start churches and call those home missionaries. We support a couple that started a church in New York. It’s a Freewill Baptist ministry. We’ve supported some in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, also in Colorado and even in Danese.”

One missionary group was so cash-strapped in inflation-riddled Brazil, Barr said, that it couldn’t afford a washing machine. The pies helped them meet their laundry requirements via a new washing machine.

Barr estimated anywhere from 16 to 20 women gather each month to fry pies and it has evolved into an inter-generational bonding and learning experience for the older women and younger girls as well.

“The older teach the younger ones the art of dough rolling and pie frying. There’s an art to it,” she said.

“Some of the young boys love to come down and work with us. Occasionally, some of the men will come in.”

The monthly pie frying takes place from September through April, with a break during the hot summer months, Barr said. “It’s hard work, but we really have a good fellowship.”

The ladies will again convene for cooking in late March. For anyone interested in ordering pies, Barr likes to have at least a few days’ notice. To order, call her at 683-5253.

— E-mail: mhill@register-herald.com