First Baptist Church of Lancaster

Duane's take

The way I tell it, this comes straight from the official marker for the First Baptist Church of Lancaster; so let's get into it. Way back in the 1840s and 1850s, Lancaster Baptists weren't meeting in any grand hall or soaring sanctuary. They were gathering in private homes, periodically, quietly, the way a congregation does when it's still figuring out what it's going to become.

And it was becoming something, alright. Then comes September 29th, 1867. Fourteen charter members (fourteen) gathered to officially organize the Missionary Baptist Church.

Fourteen people with enough faith and enough grit to make it formal. They needed a place to worship, and what they had was the Masonic Hall, a two-story frame building that, at the time, was also housing three other denominations and the community school. You want to talk about sharing your pew; these folks shared their whole building.

And when it came time for baptisms? They headed out to Ten Mile Creek. No indoor plumbing required.

Just the creek, the congregation, and whatever the weather decided to bring that day. By 1873, the church had grown enough to do something about its situation. The congregation bought a lot at East 2nd and State Street and erected the first church building in Lancaster.

Now, even then, they weren't done sharing; the Methodists and Presbyterians worshiped there too, for a time. But there was a bell hanging in that steeple, friends. A real bell in a real frame edifice.

That bell still exists today, displayed right there in the church yard. Some things are too good to let go of. The Ladies Aid Society formed in 1877, and don't you underestimate them.

By 1887 they had helped purchase an adjacent lot where the first parsonage in Lancaster was built. Ten years of work, one lot, one parsonage. That's how it's done.

In 1902, this fellowship took on the name it still carries: the First Baptist Church of Lancaster. And right around that same time, 1902 into 1903, a new church building went up on property purchased from Lancaster Lodge No. 160, A. F. and A.

M., situated at East 3rd and Henry Street. When that sanctuary eventually gave way to the present structure, built in 1951 and 1952, they didn't just walk away from the old one empty-handed. The pulpit came with them.

The stained glass windows came with them. Some things travel, because they're meant to. From fourteen people in a borrowed room to a congregation that kept building (literally) as its membership and community services expanded.

That bell in the yard has been watching the whole thing. Fourteen charter members started something on a September morning in 1867, and Lancaster has never quite been the same.

What the marker says

During the 1840s and 1850s, Lancaster Baptists met periodically in private homes. On Sept. 29, 1867, fourteen charter members gathered to organize the Missionary Baptist Church. They worshiped first in the Masonic Hall, a two-story frame building that also housed three other denominations and the community school. Early baptisms were held in Ten Mile Creek. In 1873 the congregation bought a lot at E. 2nd and State Street and erected the first church building in Lancaster, a structure shared for a time with the Methodists and Presbyterians. The bell that hung in the steeple of that frame edifice is now displayed in the church yard. The Ladies Aid Society, formed in 1877, helped purchase an adjacent lot for construction of the first parsonage in 1887. This fellowship became the First Baptist Church of Lancaster in 1902. A new church building was erected in 1902-03 on this property at E. 3rd and Henry Street, purchased from Lancaster Lodge No. 160, A. F. & A. M. The pulpit and stained glass windows were transferred from that sanctuary to the present structure, built in 1951-52. Other physical facilities were added as the First Baptist congregation expanded its membership and community services.