THE HISTORY OF FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH EAST PEORIA, IL

THE HISTORY OF FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH EAST PEORIA, IL Our story began back in 1946, when a few very dedicated folks felt there was a need in the community for a Baptist church. Many Baptists had moved to the East Peoria area from the south after World War II looking for employment. Mrs. Carl (Clara) Moritz felt this need so strongly that she approached the Rev. Claude Hines, President of the Peoria Baptist Executive Council, with a proposal to start a new Baptist church. Rev. Hines consulted with Mr. Fred Spinder, Sr. and a few others as to the viability of a new church start in East Peoria. The Peoria Baptist Executive Council agreed to sponsor the new church. Soon the Roosevelt Grade School was secured for a meeting place. The first services were held in the school on Sunday, May 5, 1946. 1

Mr. Howard Green (1988) The church called Mr. Howard Green, a student at Northern Baptist Seminary of Chicago, IL as our first part-time pastor. Sunday School classes for all ages and Sunday morning worship services were held in the school. For Sunday evening services the church obtained the use of the Odd-Fellow s Hall/Post Office building (pictured at right). During his tenure as part-time pastor, Mr. Green continued his studies at Northern Baptist Seminary, serving the church on weekends. He concluded his services in December 1947. Mr. 2 Children s Sunday School - - - 1948

Green, who later moved to southern California recently retired from a career in municipal planning. One of the many devoted workers who from the beginning gave freely of her time and substance to the group was Miss Mildred Langston, a member of the First Baptist Church of Peoria. Mildred was instrumental in organizing the Sunday School of our church. The work grew and prospered from the Youth - - - 1948 very beginning because it met a definite need of the community. 3

The Rev. Charles F. Zummach In January 1948, the Baptist Executive Council invited the Rev. Charles F. Zummach, to meet with the group. After interviewing him, they asked Rev. Zummach to serve as Mr. Green s successor. He agreed and began his service to the church in April 1948. The first baptismal service was held on May 23, 1948. Eleven candidates were immersed. Soon Amy Lay, William Wheat, Fred Spinder, Henry Gentsch, Rev. Charles thereafter on June 6, 1948 the church was formally organized. Thirty-four people signed the charter designating the church as FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, EAST PEORIA, IL. This is the 4

name under which it is chartered by the State of Illinois, at Springfield. Officers for the newly founded church were elected at a regular business meeting. A constitution was written and later adopted. The Congregation of First Baptist Church, East Peoria, IL - 1948 The next step was to acquire a suitable building site. In October 1948, a site at 600 East Washington St. was purchased from the Caterpillar Tractor Company for the sum of $300. This is the site on which the church is now located. Steps were taken to raise a building fund with a goal of $5,000. Our Lord provided. The Illinois Baptist State Convention granted the church a gift of $5,000 from the World Mission Crusade, secured by a Gift-Mortgage. 5

Groundbreaking services were held for the new building on Sunday, May 1, 1949. The Rev. Russell S. Orr, Executive Secretary of the Illinois Baptist State Convention, delivered the address. 6

On July 14, 1949, Caterpillar Tractor Company began excavating the basement for the church. The company did this as a public service without any cost to the church. They also graded the grounds during the fall of that year. Mr. (Below) A D6 tractor and bulldozer begins excavating for the basement of the new First Baptist Church in East Peoria as Fred Spinder (church member); the Rev. Charles Zummach and Carl Willi, Proving Grounds supervisor (pictured from left to right) look over a blueprint. The tractor operator is Robert Curtis. Caterpillar families comprise about 75 percent of the congregation which currently meets in an East Peoria school building until the church is completed. Since it was impossible to complete an adequate building for the sum specified, the church decided to build only the basement part of the building. The contract was awarded to 7

Clarence H. Warner of Creve Coeur, IL. He began the work in September 1949. By the end of November the structure was far enough along to allow the men of the church to gather and roof over the basement. The rest of the interior of the basement was completed during the winter of 1949/1950. Again, the men of the church did the greater part of the work. The completed basement represents an outlay of approximately $28,000, with a seating capacity of 200 complete with classrooms, lavatories, kitchen, and heating plant. The first meeting in the basement was held on March 16, 1950. The Church, at its business meeting on May 18, 1950, took a big step of faith when we decided to follow the leading of our Lord and become self-supporting. A budget of $6,000 was adopted. Since then we have been led to increase the budget every year. In our 50th year it now amounts to $117,476. On May 7, 1952, during our Annual Business Meeting, the church voted to proceed with the plans to complete the upper part of the building. Our members felt that this step was necessary because 8

the church had outgrown the basement facilities. Members also noted that completing the building would put the church on an equal footing with the other churches in the community. We requested a new loan from the American Baptist Home Mission Society of $30,000 for the purpose of completing the building. A building committee was appointed. Mr. Harry C. Schaufelberger agreed to serve as chairman. Mr. H. E. Koch was engaged as architect to complete the drawings and specifications for the building. The contract for completion of the building was awarded to Mr. Howard Spurgeon of Robein, IL., for the sum of $43,500. Work began on August 5, 1952. The cornerstone was laid by early September of that year and the roof was completed by the end of that same month. 9

The contractor completed his work by May 15, 1953. Pews and pulpit furniture were installed by the end of the month. The building had a total seating capacity of 350 with additional seats available in the annex, an area which was separated from the sanctuary by accordian sliding doors. A cry room was above the annex to provide parents with very young children an opportunity to at least feel part of the service of worship down below. The completed building, with its furnishings, represented a total cost of approximately $75,000. This did not include all the many man-hours of labor donated by members and friends of the church. Contributions from various families of the church purchased the pews. Mrs. Mary Border of Winnipeg, 10

Manitoba gave the pulpit (now located in the fellowship hall of the new sancturary building) in memory of her husband Robert Border. The Borders were friends of Pastor Zummach. The communion table (still in use in our new sanctuary) was a gift of Rev. Charles F. and Lydia M. Zummach. The Zummachs gave it ial in memory of the Borders. The piano was donated by the Open Circle. Pastor Zummach retired in 1954. He died on March 10, 1963. Soon The Rev. Peter W. Hill was called to become our pastor. During Rev. Hill s pastorate we had a very active youth department and a large childrens department. Recognizing the need to supply housing for the pastor, the congregation decided The Rev. Peter Hill to build a parsonage. A lot was purchased at 132 Allison St., East Peoria. Volunteer help from the congregation erected the parsonage. The parsonage was later sold in 1975. Proceeds of the sale were set aside to fund renovations of the first building when The Parsonage 11

our new building was occupied. A tithe on the sale price was given in the early 1990 s to help support a new church start in Bloomington, IL. The indebtedness of the church had been greatly reduced by the time Pastor Hill resigned to accept a teaching position at Pennsylvania State Teachers College in 1961 (He later retired from that position.). The Rev. William L. Brown was called by the congregation in 1962 to succeed him.. During the pastorate of William L. Brown, the mortgage on the first building was paid off. Growth in The Rev. Bill Brown church attendance prompted much discussion and investigation as to the options of either adding on to the church plant or building a new building. The membership decided to build a new worship building. A building committee was formed and engaged the Laz Edwards Architectural firm to draw up plans for a new building. The ground 12

breaking service for the new building was held in October 1968. However, it wasn t until August 30, 1970 that the new building was completed enough that we could make the transition from the old building to the new sanctuary building. Procession into new sanctuary A building trades strike occurred during the building of the new building causing a delay of several months. Once again the completion of the new building was done with the help of volunteers from the congregation and friends of the community. Once we were able to move into the new building the old church building was designated the Christian Education Building. Soon after the move was complete Jim Farley led the congregation in beginning the renovation of the old building. This work has 13

During Remodeling After Remodeling -continued over the years with many of our members participating in the construction work. The next steps for remodeling include new bathrooms on both the basement and first floor levels. A Schulmerich Carillon installed in the new sanctuary building was dedicated on December 13, 1970. It was given principally in memory of Carl Moritz, the husband of Clara. A Carillon for the church had been a dream of Clara s for a long time. Pastor Brown resigned in 1974 having accepted a call to another charge. Dr. Rodney Sawtell filled the pulpit for several weeks after his departure. Rev. Arthur Ulrich was then called to become our interim pastor serving until our Lord would lead us to call a full time pastor. The Rev. Clyde D. Masten was called 14 The Rev. Arthur Ulrich

The Rev. Clyde Masten as our fourth full time pastor beginning his work on January 15, 1975. During Rev. Masten s tenure the church took another step in helping the needy overseas. At least two of the Sunday School classes had individually sponsored needy children oversees by adopting them and supporting these children out of their class treasuries. Our Lord was about to lead in a more hands-on direction. Showing why American Baptists lead all American protestant denominations in the resettlement of refugees, the membership voted on October 14, 1981 to sponsor a Vietnamese refugee family. Several member families worked to find housing and to furnish it prior to the Huong, Ut, and Shou Shou with arrival of our refugee family. We Bob Kavanaugh and Mike McClure were blessed with the Nguyen family of Ut, Huong and Shou Shou and later the addition of a new baby, Tony. Even though there was a language barrier, it did not take us long to be able to communicate with one another. The family now lives in California and are self-supporting. At a special business meeting on December 15, 1982 the membership 15

voted to sponsor a second family - - - the brother, sister-in-law, niece and a nephew of Huong. They, too, now live in California and are self-supporting. Pastor Masten resigned in April 1983 to serve as pastor of East Moline First Baptist Church. Following his resignation the church asked the Rev. Ray Smith, a church member, to become our interim pastor. Rev. Smith was known to arrive at church with his fishing boat in tow. Sometimes he was returning from a fishing trip, other times he was about to leave on one. Ray and his wife Glennis are The Rev. Ray Smith, Jr. now retired and live in Florida. In late 1984 the church called our current pastor, the Rev. D. Richard Ricks. Pastor Ricks started his pastorate with us in January 1985. His first church function was our church s Annual Business Meeting on a cold Saturday evening. The next morning when he arrived at the church prior to worship, he found out that the church had been broken into during the night. but the late Rev. Basil and Ruth Williams were members after their own retirement 16 from active ministry. We are also blessed Pastor Richard Ricks

During the 1980 s the church membership steadily and faithfully worked at retiring the debt on the new building. At the first quarter business meeting in April 1990 the finance committee announced that the mortgage on the Worship Building had been paid off. We burned the mortgage during the morning worship service on June 10, 1990. The church has been instrumental in the lives of many people, some of whom have gone on into the ministry, some into the certified lay ministry and some into the mission field. Several of our laymen have served on work mission projects in Haiti, Costa Rica, Green Lake, Oklahoma and Mr. Carroll Ashlock other areas in the United States. One Certified Lay Minister member, Eleanor Triplett, went to the Philippines as an Academic Consultant/Volunteer Missionary for two years. The First Baptist Church, East Peoria, IL has been blessed with many members and friends who have either gone home to be with the Lord, moved to new areas because of employment or have left the area upon their retirement. Not only Eleanor Triplett have we been blessed with the Rev. Ray and Glennis Smith as members 17

by our sister in Christ, Mildred Ulrich, who is the widow of the late Rev. Arthur Ulrich. We continue to strive to do the Lord s Ruth and Rev. Basil Williams work and minister to those in need through many different ministries as we live out the Good News of the Gospel in our daily living. We have been through struggles and hardships but through it all we have kept our faith in God and our eyes open to His divine guidance. Mrs. Arthur (Mildred) Ulrich On Monday, June 15 another Vacation Bible School begins. Here are two pictures. The first is of the Vacation Bible School that met 50 years ago. The second is the Vacation Bible School that met in 1997. You may recognize some in the first picture who have grown to serve the Lord in this community and in others. Look at the second picture with eyes of faith that 50 years from now these children will do even more. 18 Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path

Vacation Bible School - - - 1948 Psalm 119:105 1998 Boards, Committees, Auxiliaries, and Activities Vacation Bible School - - - 1997 19

20 Pictures can express much more than words. See in these picture collages the present and promising future of this

21

of First Baptist Church, East Peoria IL Diaconate Ministries Decorating Committee Finance Committee Publicity Committee Music Committee Fellowship Committee Board of Christian Education First Sunday Fellowship Pastoral Relations Committee Ushers American Baptist Women s Ministries Sewing Circle American Baptist Men Memorial Committee Open Circle Dartball League Young at Hearts Basketball American Baptist Youth Couples Banquet Softball League Christian Singles Golf Christmas Caroling Chancel Choir 5th Sunday Singspiration Instrumental Ensemble Sunrise Service 50th Anniversary Committee Easter Breakfast Small Groups Community Good Friday Bible Studies Computer Labs Sunday School Multi-media in Worship Family Night Fellowship Handclasp Newsletter Annual Church Picnic Camping Trustees Food for Needy Mother - Daughter Banquet Visitation Communion By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one 22

should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:10-11 CHARTER MEMBERS Living Charter Members (still members) Betty Shea Maze Delores Green Mildred Schaufelberger Phyllis Hill Berry Herbert Spinder Lucille Shea Wheat Clara Spinder Massey Charter Members Now Members Elsewhere Lorraine Gentsch Amy Lay Sharon Ray Gentsch Beverly Lay White Oakley Sloter Charlene Sloter Evelyn Coldiron Marilyn Flynn Helen Janzen Black Deceased Charter Members Carl Moritz Fred Spinder Clara Moritz Marie Spinder Harry Schaufelberger Kenneth Maze Helen Janzen William Wheat, Jr. Margaret Powers Isabella Shea Henry Gentsch Henry Janzen Nellie Cummins Frances Fischer Minnie Hill Herman Green Nellie Earnst Louis Spinder Past and Present Pastors Rev. Howard Green 1946 - - - 1947 23

Rev. Charles F. Zummach 1948 - - - 1954 Rev. Peter W. Hill 1954 - - - 1961 Rev. William L. Brown 1962 - - - 1974 Rev. Clyde D. Masten 1975 - - - 1983 Rev. Dr. D. Richard Ricks 1985 - - - Thank You 50th Anniversary Committee! (main responsibilities) Martha Farley Byrd: Chairperson Bob Fincham: Photography and Worship Planning Joan Phillips Fincham: Worship Planning and Cookbook Herb Spinder: Publicity Esther Jacobs Spinder: Publicity and Cookbook Kendra Heise Showalter: Cookbook and Budget Carolyn Dowds Ingold: Budget Priscilla Pires Whipp: Publicity Betty Kavanaugh: Decorating Brenda Farley: Food and Music Donna Cummins Cheatham: Secretary, History, Communications Sue Kerby, Publicity (had to resign because of health) Pastor Richard Ricks: ex officio (Landscaping and Pictures Contributed by Bob Fincham) 24