The Faithful Followers Bible study group celebrated its 10th anniversary on Monday with a picnic under the Duke Smith Pavilion at Johnson Park.

“We started with just a few ladies and it just grew from there,” Brenda Gantt said.

Faithful Followers is a Bible study group formed of 23 ladies from Bethany Baptist Church that meets every Monday at Ernestine Cosby’s house for a Bible study and refreshments.

“I moved down here several years ago from Birmingham to take care of my mother,” Cosby said. “Well after a while, it started pretty much confining me to my house. I had been a part of Bible studies in Birmingham, so I invited a few ladies from church to my house for a Bible study and it has grown from there.”

Cosby said the growth of the group has been a blessing and not something they were actively trying to do.

“We never advertised it, but it was always just word of mouth,” Cosby said. “It’s been wonderful growing in Christ with the ladies over the past 10 years.”