Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

First Baptist celebrating 125th anniversary

Prescott was incorporated on October 6, 1874, two years later, the First Baptist Church of Prescott was organized with the Rev. John Aaron its pastor.

Now, 125 years later, the church is still going strong, and will be celebrating this special occasion Sunday, Oct. 7, with a series of events to commemorate the anniversary.

Heather Callicott and Lori Arnette will sing during the morning session, and again at the afternoon event.

Randy Garner, the church's former music director, will lead the afternoon's singing, while Maurice Hitt will give a speech.

Ricky Lee, a former pastor now with the Arkansas State Baptist Convention (ASBC), will be on hand to make a presentation from the ASBC.

Others scheduled to perform at the afternoon service include Becky Christian, Kay Compton, Callicott, Arnette and Thomas McLelland.

A special video will be shown at the start of the services, 1:30 p.m.

All this began with an idea 125 years ago.

Oliver S. Jones, J. Waller Adams and William E. Atkinson were three of the men who, along with Aaron, worked to found the church locally.

The first congregation worshiped in what was known as the Prescott Academy on West Main.

However, this changed in 1887, when a frame building was constructed on the corner of East Walnut and Third streets north.

Later on, though, this structure was replaced with one made of brick. The first services were held in the new church Aug. 6, 1905, according to the church's history. T.C. Mahan was pastor at the time.

In 1924, though, the brick church was razed under the leadership of Rev. Patrick W. Murphy. It was replaced with its current incarnation at East Main and Second streets.

Land for the church was purchased from the Cumberland Presbyterian Church for $50,000.

The church paid off this debt in 1938, celebrating with a mortgage burning ceremony.

This structure was used for more than 30 years, until the church basically outgrew the building, thereby requiring a new one be built.

Land for a new church was bought in March 1947 from the Presbyterian Church. The Manse was used for a temporary Sunday School and was still owned by the church in 1954.

A building program was launched in 1953 for the current facility, under the leadership of Wesley A. Lindsey, then pastor. The idea was to expand the church, making it large enough to handle future growth with adequate parking for new members.

The church built an annex for $40,000, with the first services held June 13, 1954. These services commemorated the church's 78th anniversary.

However, the church continued to prosper, and bought two lots on the corner of East Second North and West Walnut on March 27, 1958, for $4,000.

With William R. Woodell, pastor, leading the way, the church decided there was need of additional educational facilities, and on Oct. 2, 1960, a building fund was undertaken.

Ground was broken for the educational building Sept. 13, 1964, with construction of the facility costing $50,000. The new structure was dedicated Feb. 14, 1965.

Tom Greer was pastor when the church celebrated its centennial during the month of November in 1976.

In the early days of the church, services were held on the second Sunday of each month, with a reported membership of 13.

Services were sometimes held at the river during the early years, but this was done for the ordinance of baptism.

The Women's Missionary and Aid Society was organized April 4, 1888, with 10 members. The object of this society was to help the with church and mission work.

The church was formally accepted into the Red River Baptist Association Sept. 21, 1889, when the association convened at Hollywood Baptist Church in Clark County and extended the hand of fellowship to Prescott's First Baptist Church.

The church has been affiliated with this group since.