MERIDIAN, MS — A brass offering plate reported missing from First Baptist Church of Meridian during a 1994 stewardship campaign was recovered last Tuesday when a maintenance worker identified it propped beneath the fellowship hall kitchen door, a position it is believed to have occupied for approximately three decades.

The plate, engraved with the church’s founding year and the words “Give Cheerfully,” was confirmed authentic by head deacon Ronald Pickett, 71, who recognized it immediately. “We figured somebody walked off with it,” Pickett said. “We looked for that plate for two years. Took up a special collection to replace it. In hindsight, we maybe should have checked the kitchen.”

Church records indicate the replacement plate was purchased in 1996 at a cost of $140, funded by a designated offering. The original plate is estimated to have propped open the door through four head pastors, a $2.1 million sanctuary addition, and at least nine carpet replacement discussions.

“It held that door open faithfully for thirty-two years. I’m not sure any volunteer has that kind of tenure.”

Facilities coordinator Denise Holt, 58, acknowledged she had never questioned the doorstop’s origin. “I assumed it had always been there,” she said. “Like the kitchen itself.”

The church’s finance committee convened Wednesday to determine whether the original plate should resume active duty or be retired to the church display case, a deliberation expected to take no fewer than three meetings.

At press time, the fellowship hall door had swung shut for the first time since the Clinton administration.