History:

The history of the First Baptist Church is a long journey dating back to 1867. We have made the transformation from meeting in an upstairs hall, to worshiping together in a very large, brick building, complete with several murals, stained glass windows and a mammoth pipe organ. Much of this was made possible by generous donations of Gereral Charles Miller. During the early years, the church grew in leaps and bounds. It was decided to purchase Calvary Baptist Church as a mission. Even with many members moving their membership to Calvary Baptist, First Baptist again outgrew their building. A new Sunday School addition was built to accomodate 1000 people. Before it was completed, the main auditorium of the church was destroyed by fire. By 1904, the sanctuary was rebuilt. Twenty-four pastors have served our church. of these, Reverend Samuel Clark served here 16 years and the Reverend John Harrington served 19 years.

The congregation has gone through times of much growth, plateaus, and spiritual revivals lead by speakers such as R.G. LaTourneau, Ben Kinchlow, and Evelyn Christenson. Ren Latchaw bequeathed First Baptist a large estate in the early 1990's. We have been using part of the proceeds to refurbish the church building, both inside and outside.

The history of the church has been arduous. We have seen our numbers go way down from thousands of yesteryear. However, the last couple of years, we have been blessed by new families dedicated to Christ.