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A Century of Faith 

The First Baptist Church Turns 100 

The First Baptist Church celebrated 100 years of ministry on October 24, 2004.   First Baptist was originally founded by Reverend J.B. Spight in October of 1904.  The first meetings were held in a tent at the corner of 13^th and Taylor, as the church did not as yet have a building.  Soon there were 12 charter members who organized the purchase of land and raised a building at 1107 Pine street in 1905. 

            After Reverend Spight died, First Baptist had several short term pastors.  Then Charles Delepine came and served at the church from 1921 until 1941.  Delepine was succeeded by Gordon Woodall in 1943, who pastored until 1951.  In 1951, Arthur Collins took over the shepherding duties of the church and remained until 1962.  From 1963 to 1972, Alton Kintner led the church.  It was under Kintner’s leadership that First Baptist decided to build a new structure at the church’s present location at 1889 Belmont Drive. 

In 1969, two acres were purchased on Belmont for the new building. After 20 months of work, mostly done by volunteers and members of the church, the new First Baptist Church was dedicated on November 1, 1970. Several of the stained glass windows from the original building, now Concordia Lutheran, were carefully put into place at the new location.  One of these windows, the “Sower of the Seed,” can be prominently seen from Belmont Drive.

In 1974, James Gentry was installed as the next pastor of the First Baptist Church.  Under his leadership the church saw much growth and the advent of a Christian day school.  Baptist Christian School began in 1977, at first made up of the children of members. As the school grew, other churches and individuals saw the value of a Christian education.  In 1997 Baptist Christian separated from the church and became Summit Christian School.  In 1999 Summit pooled its resources and combined with Shepherd of the Valley to create what is now called Horizon Christian School.

Doug Iverson, accepted the position in 1995 as pastor of the First Baptist Church. Under Pastor Iverson’s leadership, the church continued to thrive and experience the faithfulness of God. 

October 24, 2004 was set aside as a day of commemoration.  There was an 11:00 a.m. service, and a special service at 3:00 p.m.  Between services, there was a slide presentation held in the sanctuary.  Many of the past members and leaders of the church were invited back to share in the fellowship, sharing of memories, and singing.  First Baptist Church was excited to share in celebrating 100 years of God’s faithfulness.   

If You are interested in reading more about our Church History, please click here for the full Story.  This is presented in a Word Document and you must have Microsoft Word or something equivalent.

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