Our History

• 1858-2000
• 2001-Today

History of the First Baptist Church of Fairbury
1858-2000

In September 1858 a small group of people, under the leadership of Elden Branch and eager for a church home, met in a little school to talk of organizing a Baptist church in Fairbury. A council of neighboring churches decided on the Articles of Faith and the Covenant. On Sunday morning, October 3, 1858, the First Baptist church of Fairbury was organized with the following five constituent members: Caleb and Orpha Patton, Richard and Joanna Hanna, and Jesse Hanna.

On April 7, 1860, Rev. B.F. Scrivens was called to the pastorate, he began as the first regular pastor of the young church. The membership steadily increased, and in 1864 or 66, during the time of Rev. W.C.F. Hempstead, the members felt equal to the task of building a church. Caleb Patton donated four lots, two of which were sold to help offset expenses. Finally, after months of weary waiting, the church was completed and dedicated to God. Rev. John Carnes, beginning as pastor in 1865, was very successful and within 5 years he received 189 members into the church by baptism, the total membership at this time was 260. In 1871, 41 members took their letters and organized a Baptist church in Weston. Between Rev. Carnes' pastorate and Rev. C.D. Merit, (1876-1881) the church had a number of pastors, remaining a short time each.

In June 1888, after careful deliberation, it was decided to tear down the old church and rebuild on the same site. Rev. J.J. Crosby was the pastor at this time and in conjunction with the building committee, built a new church at a cost of $5,479. It was opened for worship and dedicated to the service of God, March 17, 1889.

In May, 1892, Rev. W.L. Riley received and accepted the call of the church and during his pastorate of 5 years, 150 new members were received into the church. In 1819, Rev. L.W. Ames became pastor and during his tenure the debt was cleared. The Rev. J.S. Shorney was called in December 1927 and served for 7 years. Rev. Shorney labored for the church during the worst of the financial depression. Rev. Roberts came next and patiently rebuilt a church that had sagged badly during the financial and spiritual depression of the 1930's. The next pastor, Rev. Wills, charged that the Northern Baptist Convention was full of modernism. He, along with 39 members, left and started another Baptist church in Fairbury which continued for several years.

The old bell was given to the scrap drive in 1941, and in 1948, after 4 years of fund raising, the church purchased an organ. In 1954, the entire front of the sanctuary was remodeled. The new furniture was made possible through memorial gifts. During the summer of '55, the church had a "face-lift." The building was tuck-pointed, the brick sand-blasted and the windows were re-leaded. As a memorial to Cora Harris, a piano was purchased in 1957.

In 1963, the balcony over the overflow room was remodeled, and 3 additional classrooms were added. During 1968 and '69 an addition was added to the east side. This included an entryway, pastor's study, a classroom on the upstairs level and restrooms in the basement.

In 1977, the house on the corner of 4th and Chestnut was purchased from the Marshall Fitzgerald family. The house was used as the parsonage and the old parsonage was moved to West Walnut Street making more parking spaces available. The garage on the Fitzgerald property was transformed into a Youth Center for local youth until the property was sold in 1979. In 1979 a group of 12 individual members formed a trust and purchased the Bose house west of the church. A few years later this same group purchased a second house to the west of the Bose house. This house was used for classrooms and fellowship gatherings. Eventually the church purchased both properties from the trust and in 1983 razed them to make necessary parking.

During Rev. Campbell's pastorate the organ, which had been purchased in 1948, was replaced and the family of Joe Gerber purchased a piano for the church. Rev. Comfort came in 1990 and with him came growth, both spiritual and physical. In 1992, after much prayer and reflection, it was decided to add a fellowship hall to the existing building. Through the hard work of building a solid structure to withstand the weather, the congregation built amongst themselves solid bonds that have withstood the test of time. By working together, a hall was constructed to the glory of God and new bonds of kinship were forged to last forever. More property to the south was purchased a short time later and more parking spaces were added.

During the last 143 years there has always been a strong emphasis on evangelism in the life of the church. During the last 75 years Kenneth Tyler, Hartford Patterson, Vernon Gibb, Howard, Bess, Rose Williams, Randy Devenport, Robert Craig, Sharon Monroe, and Mike Cooper have gone into full time service to our Lord.

Advancing steadily, year by year, amid joy and sorrow, each succeeding pastor giving his mite to God and the church, we come down to the present. It is a long step from the little school of 1858 to our present church home. With the aid of God, to whom we give all honor and thanks, the cooperation of our members and under the leadership of our pastor, Rev. Anderson, we hope to progress along all lines of work into the 21st century with the same thought uppermost in our minds as was in our church family's minds who went before us: "I am the vine: you are the branches. If a man remains in me, and I in him, he will bear much fruit: apart from me you can do nothing."

Pastors who have served at First Baptist Church of Fairbury

* Portions taken from "Fifty Years of Retrospect" written by Mr. Carrie K. Eckhart (1908) and "Historical Sketch of the First Baptist Church" prepared by Rosella Mowery and Marilyn Moody (1983)

** "Church History 1858-2000" prepared by Patsy Stephens

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2001-Today

In 1992, a Fellowship Hall was connected to the building which had stood at 406 S. 4th Street for some 120 years. At that time the average Sunday attendance was 124. In 2002, the average Sunday attendance was 250.

In 2000, a building committee was formed to consider our building needs. Four options were considered: do nothing, add to the existing structure, replace all but the fellowship hall, or build on a new site. To our surprise, after we studied it, all agreed that we needed to build on a new site.

After some proposals failed, we found that five acres would be available to us where we have built. This was approved and paid for in October 2001. A consultant was hired to conduct a survey of our membership in March 2002. This survey revealed strong support for a new facility. Following the interviews of three builders, Burkholder Builders of Napanee, IN was hired to design a Phase I plan. They contracted with H & D Quality Builders of Roanoke to do the construction.

The plan for what you now see was approved by 92% of those present on January 27, 2003. It was estimated that the cost would be $1,250,000 for the 21,240 square foot building.

A Funds Campaign followed in which a program designed by Saddleback Church of California was used. The consultant said the result was "a God thing."

On July 9, 2003, a special business meeting was held. The motion to borrow from the State Bank of Forrest and to begin construction was approved by 84% of those present. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on October 5, 2003, with a miraculously timed whirlwind passing through and construction soon began.

On October 17, 2004 the church family gathered at "406" for a final time in a brief time of worship. Following a group picture outside, we marched down Route 24 and up 7th Street for our first meeting at "701." Thus far, our average attendance has been 362.

The building contains:

• 10 air conditioners
• 8 furnaces
• 24 foot high ceiling in sanctuary
• 600 plus electrical outlets
• 400 seats in sanctuary
• 11 Sunday School classrooms
• 6 rest rooms
• 3 offices
• State of the art audio and video systems
• And more.

Sunday School is at 8:45 a.m. and Worship is at 10:00 a.m.

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