A View from Our Past –

Our Beginnings

     A business meeting of the new Baptist church was held on March 11, 1929 in the Sunday School Auditorium of the Mother Church.  Mrs. B.L. Saunders was asked to serve as the Moderator.

     Deacons for the new church were the first business brought before the body.  They were duly elected and are listed as follows:  B. L. Saunders, A. L. Bowden, Charles F. Taylor, W. T. Pond, H. H. Powell, J. H. Williams, H. S. Miles, C. M. Manning and Emmitt King.

The Nominating Committee presented to the church the slate of officers, who were duly elected.  The next order of business was the naming of the new church.  Mrs. W. T. Pond suggested the name, “West End Baptist Church” and it was unanimously adopted.

     On March 26, 1929, Chairman of the Deacons B. L. Saunders chaired a committee on pulpit supply.  There was a general discussion on a meeting place for the new church, and a residence on the corner of St. James Avenue and West Washington Street was purchased.  The house was moved back on the lot so that it faced St. James Ave.  The partition between the dining room and living room was removed and about thirty feet was added to the back of the house, thus forming an auditorium that would seat about 300 people comfortably.  The remaining nine rooms were to be used as Sunday School classrooms.  The cost of these renovations was about $1,500.  This building was used until the present church was built in 1935.  After that, it continued to be used for Sunday School.

                                                                Joyce Mauck, History Committee