Our History

The First Baptist Church of Lima has been serving the Lima community for over one hundred and eighty-seven years. On January 26, 1834, a group of twenty-six men and women met to found this ministry and within a year, a small frame building was constructed on South Union Street as our first church home.

In •1853 property was purchased on what is now Central Avenue •and a new brick building was constructed and dedicated for service in June of 1856. On January 10, 1909, the last service was held in this facility and the congregation moved to a new building on the corner of High and McDonel Streets. This would be our home for fifty-one years.

The first service in our present facility was held on May 1, 1960 with the building dedication following in September of the same year. Just over five years later, in September 1965, the mortgage on this facility was burned.

Since 1988, we have been led by five Senior Pastors:

Dr. Kenneth E. Swenson          1988-1995

Rev. Kenneth R. Fey                 1995-2001

Rev. Richard Cook                   2003-2008

Rev. Robert White                    2009-2017

Dr. David Brown                       2017-2018

Rev. Ellen Brown                       2017-2018

Rev. Andrew Shields                2018- Present

Interim and Associate Pastors have also served during this period including Rev. Cynthia White who served during the tenure of Rev. Kenneth Fey and returned to serve with her husband, Rev. Robert White, from 2009 until their return to their home state of Iowa in 2017.  We were also blessed to have Dr. David Brown & Rev. Ellen Brown, as our interim pastorial team. We currently are blessed to be served by , Rev. Andrew Shields, our senior pastor.

In 2009 we celebrated our one hundred and seventy fifth anniversary. It is our prayer that we continue the tradition of those who have gone before us in teaching, preaching and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ.