May 9, 2008

In July of 1870, Rev. John R. Downer of the Mission Society of Kansas was visiting in Kirkwood, Missouri, home of Dr. Benjamin F. Edwards. In the course of conversation the subject was broached of organizing a Baptist church in the community. The two men prayerfully discussed the prospects of such an endeavor and made a canvas of the known Baptists in the area. "They were happy to find that a number of those interviewed were pleased at the thought of a church of their own denomination."

"Believing that the time was ripe for a start, invitations were extended to those interested," asking them to a 3:00 p.m. meeting at the Presbyterian Church Building. On Sunday afternoon, July 31, 1870, fourteen members pledged themselves to become a new church. It was unanimously voted to adopt Articles of Faith as published by the American Baptist Publishing Society and Rev. Downer was invited to pastor the fledgling congregation known as First Baptist Church.

"He accepted the call with the proviso that the American Baptist Home Mission Society would augment the small salary of $600.00 a year which the church could afford to pay him, so that he could adequately provide for his wife and four children.

For several months the congregation met in the Presbyterian Church, but beginning January 1, 1871, services were held in a hall on Kirkwood Road, owned by Dr. John Pitman. On February 4, 1871, six candidates for membership were baptized at Third Baptist Church in St. Louis. The following day the congregation celebrated its first Lord's Supper together.

In May 1872, a deed to a lot near Kirkwood Road and Clayton was to given to the church by Mr. W.M. McPherson, a member of Second Baptist Church. "This gift was gratefully received and a building committee was appointed forthwith." It was not until late in 1874 under the leadership of Rev E.H. Sawyer, that the eighteen-member church found the means to erect its first sanctuary and adopted its first constitution.

By 1887 a Mission Sunday School, later known as the Rose Hill Mission, was organized in South Kirkwood. In 1888, plans were begun for a larger building at a new location ( Kirkwood Road and Washington ); a Young People's Society was organized; and concern was raised for a building to house the mission Sunday School.

Rev. Sawyer returned to serve his second term with the congregation in 1892. By 1896 the church had doubled in membership to fifty-eight; the new building was completed; improvements had been made to the mission Sunday School; and the church had become self-supporting.

"In 1898 the church was renamed the Wetzel Memorial Baptist Church in honor of Mrs. Mary H. Wetzel of St. Louis who had given liberally toward the completion and furnishing of the church building shortly before her death."

During the next four years, an additional fifty-seven members were added to the roll; and "the church increased not only its specific donations to the cause of missions," but there came an awareness of responsibility for missions in the lives of individual members.

In 1905 Rev. Burtt N. Timbie became the pastor and gave direction to enlarging the Sunday School facilities. During this time two "great national religious enterprises, The Laymen's Missionary Movement and The Men and Religion Forward Movement, originated. The Brethren in the Church of Kirkwood, entered into the activities of these movements, with the zeal that would be expected of earnest men."

Beginning in 1917, "a pastor who served the church for eighteen faithful years, was the Reverend C.S.G. Boone. During the Great Depression, when finances were an ever-present worry, the church under his leadership weathered the financial storm, added members, and continued its mission of preaching the gospel and winning souls."

The church continued to grow and in 1947 it was decided that a larger location was necessary. After much thought and discussion, the property at 212 North Woodlawn, the site of the Woodlawn Inn, was purchased. Originally known as the Lexington Hotel, the building had been used to accommodate visitors to the 1904 World's Fair. The large, many-roomed structure was adapted to the temporary use for services; and at this time the church was again renamed becoming Kirkwood Baptist Church.

In 1954 the second addition to the educational building was completed and the Valley Park Mission was established. In 1959 the present sanctuary was completed. The 1960's again brought building and expansion to KBC, when in 1967 the third addition to the educational wing was added. Further developing its sense of mission in the community, the church, in cooperation with Parkway and St. Johns, helped to organize the Green Trails Mission.

The decade of the 1980s was marked by much growth in all aspects of church life, but particularly in Sunday School and church membership. As a result of a five year Ministry-Action Plan begun in 1983, the congregation turned its attention to "Dreaming Dreams of Faith."

Realizing many of these goals hinged on the renovation of existing space to accommodate current needs as well as insure growth.

The sanctuary was renovated in 1982 and work was begun in 1984 on a 27-rank Pilcher pipe organ. By 1988 the church had completed its renovation of educational space to accommodate 850 in Sunday School. Office space was remodeled and expanded; a new music suite was added; the Great Hall was refurbished, and the kitchen area was modernized.

In conjunction with its decision to renovate, the church voted to set aside a tenth of the building fund receipts for missions. During the '80s the church began to adopt more of a "hands-on" approach to sharing the gospel. Projects both locally and on "home and foreign fields" were undertaken.

June of 1990 saw the establishment of the Church Leadership Council. The group was intended in part to look at long-range planning with reference to space, parking, and other "Dreams of Faith" to date not fulfilled.

Because of controversy within the Southern Baptist Convention, in 1990 KBC began to give consideration to alternative means of funding programs, agencies, and mission endeavors that to that point had been channeled through the SBC.

By 1991 the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship had been formed and moderate Baptists, who felt uncomfortable with the current activities and decisions of the SBC, were able to unite and move toward some common goals. After much discussion in open meetings, deliberation through the Church Leadership Council, and prayer on the part of individuals, Kirkwood Baptist Church voted in 1992 to no longer send money through SBC boards and agencies, but to give directly the support of missions through the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

On March 14, 2001, KBC members present at the regular business meeting unanimously approved a resolution from the Church Leadership Council stating that we disaffiliate ourselves from both the Southern Baptist and Missouri Baptist Conventions.

Today, KBC continues a strong commitment to persons throughout the greater St. Louis communities who hurt and are in need of support. Twelve-step recovery groups meet each week in our facilities. Workshops are offered periodically to help persons who are co-dependent or struggling with chemical addictions. And we are actively involved in Kirkcare and Educare to meet the needs in our own neighborhood.

The missions thrust of Kirkwood Baptist Church today includes education, action, and support. Church members have been actively involved involved in partnerships with churches in England, Cuba, St. Lucia, South America, Poland and various areas in the United States. Members support our mission activities through financial giving, prayer and personal participation in the mission locations.

Finally, Kirkwood Baptist Church unites in worship to praise God, to pray, to hear God's Word and to respond with our lives and resources. The congregation participates in every aspect of worship. We employ a variety of music and forms in our worship. We are inclusive in our language and expression, which fully honors and welcomes all persons.