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First Baptist Churc history
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At that site the first association in Indian Territory formed in October 1848 from thirteen churches representing 854 members in southern Indian Territory.
The church was founded in 1848 in midtown Atlanta, Georgia.
On May 31, 1851, four charter members established the First Baptist Church of Waco.
The church initially was composed of only fifteen members and met in the meeting place of the First Methodist Church until obtaining a brick building of their own at Fourth Street and Mary Avenue in 1857.
Creek churches continued to grow, especially after Joseph S. Murrow's arrival among the Creek and Seminole in 1857.
He organized the first Baptist church among the Seminoles in 1860 at Sasakwa.
1861 brought about the beginning of the War Between The States which greatly affected the churches and their mission.
Sept 1865–Interest in McMinnville as a church site increased.
May 11, 1867–Twenty two members of the South Yamhill church voted to form a McMinnville Church.
In 1870, the congregation appointed him pastor after he gained recognition in the local community for a revival hosted at New Hope Baptist Church earlier that year.
D.W. Gwin in their early work and established The First Baptist Church on June 21, 1872.
On July 28, 1872, the Elyton Land Company gave the land site on 6th Avenue and 22nd Street to the small congregation, and they soon built their first building which was only 60 by 30 feet.
Baptist missionary work among the Plains Indians began in 1874 when the Texas Baptist Convention facilitated a visit to the Wichita Agency by John McIntosh, a Creek preacher.
The town of Rapid City was established in 1876 by John Brennan, who was Helen Wrede’s grandfather.
That goal was achieved in 1876 when the Home Mission Society of the Northern Baptist Convention entered the field, soon dominating work among the tribes.
A fire demolished the brick structure in 1877, and construction on a new church began almost immediately.
State and regional conventions were formed, and the National Baptist Convention was organized in 1880.
In 1881, a call was issued to all the churches and pastors in the Dakota Territory to meet together on the shores of Lake Madison for a Camp Meeting.
The completion of the resolutions was set aside until 1882, when the Southern Dakota Baptist Convention was formed and officers were elected.
In 1882, just ten years after First Baptist was established, Rev.
December 2, 1883–A new building at 1st. & Cowls.
In 1883, the First Baptist Church of Waco was invited to attend the Southern Baptist Convention in Richmond, Virginia, for the first time.
By 1883 Black Baptists formed their first convention in the state.
The most notable growth occurred in Russia, where a Russian Baptist Union was formed in 1884 as the result of influences stemming from Oncken.
In the summer of 1885, the school was formally organized and became known as Sioux Falls University.
Baylor University and First Baptist Church have retained a strong relationship since 1886 through Baylor’s many students, administration, and staff who worship at the church.
The First Baptist Church was founded on June 16, 1889, the same year that South Dakota was granted statehood.
Baptists faced still more pressures as white populations began to flow into Indian Territory and into Oklahoma Territory after land runs began in 1889.
Covington was licensed to preach in September 1891, by the First Baptist Church of Fort Wayne, Indiana.
A New Connection General Baptist group, Wesleyan in theology, was formed in 1770, and a century later, in 1891, it united with the Particular Baptists to form the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland.
The educational advance culminated in 1891 in the founding of the University of Chicago.
First Baptist Church of Chickasha began on December 12, 1892.
Later, during the winter of 1893, the deacons were authorized by the newly formed church organization to purchase a lot for the future home of the church.
In the spring of 1893, the first pastor was called.
He graduated from this school in 1893 and came almost immediately to Chickasha.
In May of 1895, with the building largely completed, T. E. Covington resigned and returned to his family in Fort Wayne and spent the rest of his life in that area.
The church was then without a pastor until December 22, 1895, at which time REV. HENRY BONNER MCGEE (age 42) was called as pastor.
During the first three years, the church had no musical instrument, and an important event in the progress of the church was the purchase of a church organ in the year of 1895.
The church was without a pastor until January 26, 1898 when HENRY R. BEST was called as pastor.
He began his work on February 1, 1898 and served one year until he went to First Baptist Church, Nevada, Missouri.
Carroll served as pastor at First Baptist until 1899, when he was called to serve as a secretary for the Texas Baptist Education Commission.
After 1900, Baptists were troubled by theological controversies that led to the formation of several new Baptist groups.
By the year of 1901, REV. EDWARD L. COMPERE was unanimously called as pastor and the membership had grown to approximately 135, and three additional names were added to the board of deacons.
REV. GEORGE H. THOMPSON was called to be pastor of the First Baptist Church in 1903.
The expansion of the Baptist community in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Europe led to the formation of the Baptist World Alliance in London in 1905.
Persecution of Baptists, which had been severe, was relaxed in 1905, and within the remaining disabilities a moderate growth occurred.
The headline of the Chickasha Daily Express, August 24, 1909, read, “A Great Church Structure Was Erected By The Baptist Denomination.” The new auditorium was first used in a worship service on Sunday, September 12, 1909.
In 1909, DR. ADONIRAM J. HOLT had accepted the call as pastor.
In the year of 1909, some of the first classes of a newly established state school for girls, Oklahoma College for Women (now University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma) were held in the basement of the First Baptist Church.
During the great drought of 1910, in the summer months, REV. GEORGE W. SHERMAN became pastor.
The first frame building was used until 1911, at which time the basement and a part of the #2 church building were erected.
After several all-night prayer meetings, followed by a fund-raising campaign, it was not long before a new church building program was started, which, however, was not completed until 1911.
During 1914, REV. W. T. ROUSE was called as pastor.
In the 1914 directory of the church, the parsonage was listed at 320 Colorado; there were 428 resident members listed and 105 non-resident members.
In 1915, First Baptist Church’s longest-serving pastor, Doctor Joseph Martin Dawson, began his tenure.
The church also contributed to the founding of the Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center in 1919.
A laymen’s group, with only a few Grady County churches represented, organized the Baptist Laymen’s Organization in the year 1920.
Now it is 1921, and Helen Barrett Montgomery has just been elected as President of the Northern Baptist Convention, the first woman chosen to head a major Protestant denomination.
In 1922 when the call was extended to Doctor Bruner to come as pastor, there was a membership of 776 and the membership roll showed 1,480 when he left.
A camp was a dream of the early Baptist pioneers and in 1924, the South Dakota Convention acquired the lease from the United States Forestry Service for a location known then as Bear Gulch, just to the west of the little town of Pactola.
The first Vacation Bible School was held in 1924, with an attendance of less than 100.
The building was dedicated on Sunday, November 19, 1926 and housed the church offices and Sunday School rooms on the first four floors.
By 1927, the Alabama Baptist State Convention authorized the opening of a Baptist Book Store in Birmingham, in cooperation with the Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.
He and three other evangelists went to Belle Fourche in 1928 and re-activated the First Baptist church there and they built a new church which they use today.
The school continued to grow in efficiency and in enrollment, and in 1935 it reached a registration of 1,506.
The first Falls Creek Cabin for First Baptist Church was started in July 1936.
It was in December of 1937 that DR. W.A. CRISWELL, a young minister, came to the First Baptist Church as its sixteenth pastor.
Their beautiful daughter, Mabel Ann, was born in Chickasha on June 27, 1939.
Doctor Elbert H. Sawyer was elected by the church to serve as Associate Pastor on July 16, 1939, at the age of 96 years.
Pastor Rodney Croom leads the church these days and recalled its history, “The original congregation in the 1940's were a group… who migrated from Texas.
The First Baptist Church of Chickasha saw DR. HAROLD K. GRAVES for the first time on April 20, 1941, when he came to supply the pulpit.
July, also, marked the beginning of the “300 Club” – an effort to enlist 300 people paying $1 per month for debt reduction in the hope of having the church debt-free by December 31, 1942.
On November 12, 1942, Doctor Sawyer had as guests, for lunch in his home, Doctor Graves and family and some others from the church.
Edgar Cabbiness was elected Sunday School Superintendent for 1942, succeeding Dwight Bowen, and Jack Griffin succeeded Clyde Spaulding as Director of the Training Union.
On December 18, 1943, Doctor Sawyer was one hundred years old.
The year 1944 began with the church designation 25% of its receipts for the Cooperative Program of Southern Baptist.
His final service at Chickasha was Sunday evening, September 30, 1945.
October business meeting was truly historic in the decision to approve a recommendation of the Future Planning Committee to purchase the old blacksmith shop and lot north of and adjacent to the church and to redecorate the entire plant. It was interesting to note that the same lot that the church purchased in 1945 for the sum of $5,000 was a part of the original property of the church and was sold for the sum of $50 shortly after the turn of the century to meet pressing financial obligations of the then struggling little church.
The first book store was housed on the first floor of First Baptist’s education building until 1945 when it was moved closer to the center of Birmingham’s business district.
Progress was impeded because of discord, leaders were changed, and by 1945, eight pastors had occupied the pulpit.
On Sunday, February 17, 1946, the church voted to call REV. R. C. MILLER, JR., as pastor.
For seven straight years, beginning in 1946, the Sunday School was standard.
With growth and progress came the desire to build, and on July 8, 1949, a proposal was presented for a new building.
In 1949, the Tabernacle building, constructed under Doctor Criswell’s pastorate, was enclosed and conditioned for much-needed additional rooms and departments at a cost of $30,000.
By 1950 there were slightly more than eleven hundred Baptist churches affiliated with the BGCO. Another surge of expansion followed the migration of Oklahomans from the country to the cities.
Wiley Lucas located property on Sheriff Road, and excavation began in 1951.
In 1952, the Bureau of Reclamation decided to build Pactola Dam, and the camp had to be relocated as it had been built in the canyon which was to be flooded.
In 1953, a church parsonage was built.
A long-to-be-remembered date in the history of the Sunday School was March 7, 1954, when there were 2,264 in attendance—a record, not only for the First Baptist Church, but, also, for all Oklahoma.
On December 12, 1954, the congregation marked the newly completed first (lower) unit.
In September 1955, DR. DAVID G. HAUSE was called from the Maywood Baptist Church of Independence, Missouri, to become the nineteenth pastor of the First Baptist Church, Chickasha.
Miller resigned in the early summer of 1955 to accept a young, growing Baptist church in a fast-growing community in California.
Billie Woods was a self-described “songstress” at First Baptist starting 1955.
As an important step in the church expansion program, in March of 1956, three houses on Third Street in the church block were purchased.
In 1957, land was bought on the very edge of town for the purpose of constructing a new church building.
After consultation with the Architecture Department of the Sunday School Board, Nashville, Tennessee, the church planned to build a three-story educational building in 1957.
The new facility completed the three-phase construction of complete church facilities which began in 1959 with the first phase, the construction of the Educational Building at the corner of Third and Colorado.
Occupancy of the educational portion, the East Wing, was in 1960.
Work on the sanctuary began in April 1962, and by September of that year, the roof was in place.
May 1964–New education wing built.
Less than a year after the start of construction, the first service in the new building was conducted on July 5, 1964.
In a celebratory booklet printed in 1965 for the solemn dedication of the First Baptist Church in Palm Springs, George Hearst, the son of one of the wealthiest men in the country and resident of Palm Springs, submitted a donation.
On April 1, 1967, First Baptist ordained a young minister, James J. McCord, who served as assistant to the pastor.
The West Wing was completed in 1967 and included a small Chapel and Worship Center.
On March 30, 1973, Doctor Wyatt retired as pastor after 29 years of faithful service.
The first live TV program and the first regular telecast of any program origination from Chickasha, was broadcast on Cablevision Channel 8 from the First Baptist Church, on Sunday, January 25, 1976.
On Sunday, February 10, 1980, the church held its “Moving In and Dedication Service.” The congregation met for a Song and Praise Service on December 13th.
The first service in the new building, held on Easter Sunday, March 30, 1986, was followed by a Spring Bible Conference and a dedication service on Sunday, April 6, 1986.
On June 9, 1990, the church held a “Kick-Off” Prayer Breakfast, in which it began phase one of the new building program.
By 1990 this growth was seen in the presence of more than fifteen hundred Baptist churches.
In 1991, because of the rapid regrowth of the congregation, the church enlarged the sanctuary and added an education wing.
During the tenure of Doctor Clarkson, First Baptist celebrated its 100th anniversary as a church on December 12, 1992 with a centennial celebration.
On August 28, 1993, First Baptist dedicated the building with “A Day of Praise and Thanksgiving” Service.
REV. RANDY JOHNSON served as pastor from March to December of 1996.
On August 22, 1998, the church library opened with a collection of more than 1000 items.
The church then elected Doctor McCord as Interim Pastor and he served in that capacity until June 30, 2000.
In 2000 slightly more than one-third of Oklahoma's 3.4 million population adhere to the Baptist denomination.
In January of 2003, First Baptist Church of Highland Park started a radio broadcast on 105.1 FM (http://www.wava.com/), able to be heard from Northern Virginia to Baltimore at 7:00 a.m.
In February 2007, Doctor Stan Lewis came to First Baptist as the senior pastor.
In 2007, Win Dolan, a member of FBC, wrote a year-long series entitled “Historical Perspective” that originally appeared in the Tidings.
REV. MICHAEL ALLEN BUTLER was called as pastor on January 16, 2011.
In late 2011, the note from the loan that covered the renovations to the sanctuary, as well as the purchase of the McConnell property, was paid in full.
Butler, the Long Range Planning Committee distributed a survey to the church in June of 2013 to assess possible building projects.
Doctor Charles Carter fulfilled a vital role as interim pastor of First Baptist Church following Doctor Lewis’ resignation until the call of our Senior Pastor, Doctor Jim Cooley in August, 2014.
On December 12, 2017, First Baptist Church of Chickasha celebrated its 125th anniversary.
© 2022 First Baptist Church of Birmingham, Alabama
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First Baptist Churc competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Baptist Church of Jacksonville | 1838 | $2.7M | 50 | 21 |
| Prestonwood Baptist Church | 1977 | $23.5M | 400 | 43 |
| Second Baptist Church Houston | 1927 | $138.0M | 1,100 | - |
| Eagle Brook Church | - | $470,000 | 50 | 3 |
| Rolling Hills Community Church | 1978 | $1.7M | 69 | 13 |
| St Mark's Catholic Church | - | $950,000 | 50 | 2 |
| Holy Trinity Lutheran Church | - | $1.1M | 35 | 2 |
| Wesley United Methodist Church | 1865 | $1.2M | 35 | - |
| St. John’s Downtown | 1992 | $2.0M | 47 | - |
| Covenant Presbyterian Church | 1895 | $4.7M | 50 | 2 |
First Baptist Churc history FAQs
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First Baptist Churc may also be known as or be related to First Baptist Churc, First Baptist Church Atlanta, First Baptist Church of Atlanta and First Baptist Church-Atlanta.