Photo furnished
Bob Patient takes Wyman Lake plunge.

•August 29, 2018•

By Ellen Ferrera
for the News Progress

Eight people baptized in the river behind Lehman farm in 1883 marked the beginning of the First Baptist Church of Sullivan.
To celebrate its 135th anniversary, the First Baptist Church has planned a community homecoming service and potluck on Sunday, September 9 at the church located at 215 East Harrison in Sullivan.
The service will begin at 10 a.m. with guest speaker the Rev. Paul Gibson, Executive Minister of the Great Rivers Region, delivering the sermon.
The potluck will follow in the church’s Fellowship Hall, and the public is cordially invited.
The First Baptist Church is one of Sullivan’s oldest churches. In June, 1883 S.S. Graham of Springfield; W. E. Barker, Sheldon Boyer and A. Hicks of Cooks Mills, W. F. Sharpe and J. Whitacre met with 14 other people to adopt the Baptist Articles of Faith.
This meeting was held in the Sullivan Armory Hall upstairs in the building on the southeast corner of the square. In 1885 they occupied the hall over the Index store. The Rev. Barker was the first pastor, and the first Sunday School was organized in 1886.
By 1890 the members felt the need of a church home. A $1,000 loan was secured from the Baptist Home Missionary Society with the members and townspeople raising another $1500. The church was designed after the Cooks Mills church and was dedicated in 1890. It was located at the corner of Hamilton and Adams streets. A fire caused by lightning damaged the building, and the tower was removed some years later. The building was later sold and demolished.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.