Last year was definitely the big year for sesquicentennials in Lawrence.

Plymouth Congregational Church, First United Methodist Church and the city all observed 150th anniversaries in 2004.

But for First Baptist Church, 1330 Kasold Drive, the celebration is just beginning.

Sunday, the congregation kicked off a year of special activities to mark its 150th birthday with a gala inaugural event for 350 people in the church’s Roger Williams Room.

That’s just the start.

First Baptist will have a three-day celebration June 24-26 — billed as a sesquicentennial reunion-homecoming birthday party — honoring the church’s actual anniversary, June 25, 1855.

And in the fall, there will be a spiritual renewal weekend, still in the planning stages.

The three events are all in keeping with the church’s anniversary theme, “Our 150th Year: A Time to Reflect, Rejoice, Renew.”

The focus of Sunday’s gala was to reflect on the church’s history, as well as its Christian mission in the future. The Rev. A. Roy Medley, general secretary of American Baptist Churches USA, the pastoral and administrative leader of the 1.5 million-member denomination, was the keynote speaker.

The 1925 Sunday School Class of First Baptist Church, which celebrates its sesquicentennial this year, gathers in front of the former church building at Eighth and Kentucky streets. The congregation that formed with seven members in 1855 now has about 400 people.

The reunion-homecoming will be a time to celebrate the 150th birthday and offer members of First Baptist’s extended family to reconnect with the church.

And the spiritual renewal in the fall will be just that: a time to refresh and rejuvenate.

All of which has the Rev. Marcus McFaul, the church’s 28th senior pastor since 1855, pretty excited.

“A parishioner came out the door Sunday after worship and said, ‘I can tell you’re very happy to be the pastor at this time in our history,'” McFaul says.

“I just smiled and said, ‘Absolutely.'”

Longtime downtown presence

The original home of Lawrence's first Baptist church stood at the corner of Eighth and Kentucky streets for more than a century. The church moved to its new location, 1330 Kasold Drive, in the 1970s because its historic home had become unsafe and was razed.

If there’s anything First Baptist Church has plenty of, indeed, it’s history.

In fact, the congregation is the oldest continuous Baptist church in Kansas.

“Nobody goes further back (in this state) than we do in the Baptist tradition,” McFaul says.

First Baptist Church of Lawrence was organized with seven members on June 25, 1855. In spite of border wars, 12 new members were added during its first six months.

By 1857, there was a large influx of settlers — many of them from New England — and the Home Mission Society in Philadelphia sent the Rev. R.C. Brant to be the church’s first pastor.

For 10 years, the church met in rented meeting halls. It was during this unsettled time that Quantrill’s Raid (Aug. 21, 1863) took the life of Samuel Jones, one of the church’s original seven members.

A commemorative booklet from 1907.

In 1867, the members moved into the basement of their own building under construction on a lot at Kentucky and Henry (now Eighth) streets, bought for $2,000.

Three years later, on Jan. 30, 1870, the building that was to stand on that corner for more than 100 years was dedicated.

In 1907, after 37 years of members having to climb 20 steps, the building was modified with a new entrance and considerable interior renovation.

On the 100th anniversary of the church’s founding, a new Christian education building was dedicated.

But deterioration of the building made the sanctuary unsafe. Crumbling of the brick under the main roof beams made it necessary to vacate the structure.

The last service in the sanctuary of the church at Eighth and Kentucky streets was March 7, 1976. The original building was raised in July 1976. The congregation met in the chapel of the Christian education building until the completion of the church’s new building.

The first service in the church on Kasold Drive was Christmas Eve, 1979. The building was formally dedicated April 13, 1980.

Retaining character, identity

First Baptist Church still continues to flourish in the 21st century. It’s now a congregation of about 400 people.

“Our church has grown over the last decade, and that’s been gratifying, as the trend among mainline denominations has been in a 25-year cycle of decline. So for any congregation to experience an upsurge in membership is pretty significant,” McFaul says.

First Baptist Church members Stanley Defries, left, and Carolyn Carlson, center, share a laugh with Rev. Marcus McFaul during the church's 150th anniversary celebration Jan. 30.

The church’s decision, in the 1970s, to relocate to what was then the western edge of town has turned out to be a visionary move.

“Twenty-five years ago, there was nothing out here. There was an apple orchard, and people were likely skeptical of building so far out. And now, it’s the geographic center of Lawrence,” McFaul says.

The pastor marvels at the grit and endurance of those who founded the church and guided it toward maturity.

“It was rough going in those early years. Can you imagine beginning a church in 1855 on the frontier? Can you imagine keeping your faith after your town is burned to the ground (in Quantrill’s Raid)?” he says.

Now, as then, the challenge to the church’s members and leadership remains the same.

“How do you keep your character and the essential nature of who you are in difficult times? That is still the question. That will always be the question.”