WELCOME PACKET BROCHURE TEXT
PURPOSE
OUR CAMPUS
5 buildings ______sq ft ______sq ft dedicated to children, youth and college ____ buildings on the National Historic Registry 3,300 seat sanctuary ______classrooms ______space parking garage in partnership with Baptist Hospital Family Life Center with basketball court, running track, weight room, locker room, exercise classrooms
HISTORY OF FBC
1804 - Dr. Jonathan Maxcy, graduate of America’s only Baptist college (now Brown University) and former pastor of the first Baptist church in America, comes to Columbia to serve as President of what would become the University of South Carolina. He preaches to a small group of churchless Baptists in the city.
1809 - The 13-member church is constituted with Dr. William Bullien Johnson as its pastor. Land is donated at the corner of Hampton and Sumter Streets (where the Church sits today) and Dr. Johnson launches the first building campaign, collecting $2,000.
1811 - The Church’s first sanctuary is constructed.
1821 - The South Carolina Baptist Convention is organized in the Church’s sanctuary
1859 - What is now known as Boyce Chapel is completed. The sanctuary served as First Baptist’s primary place of worship until 1992 and was constructed under the leadership of Pastor James P. Boyce, eventual founder of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, who contributed $10,000 of his own funds. At the time of construction, the Church had 395 members and the sanctuary had a seating capacity of 900-1,000, even while the City of Columbia had only 7,000 residents.
1860 - The South Carolina General Assembly ordered that a convention assemble at First Baptist to consider secession from the United States. The convention drafted South Carolina’s Secession Ordinance in the sanctuary before fear of a smallpox outbreak led it to adjourn and reconvene in Charleston where the Ordinance was approved.
1865 - Union troops under the command of General William T. Sherman burned seven churches in Columbia, including First Baptist’s original 1811 building. At the end of the year, delegates convened in the 1859 sanctuary (which had survived the war) to repeal the Ordinance of Secession.
1930’s - First Baptist begins to broadcast its services by radio
1939 - Lindsay Hall is completed, which serves as the primary location for adult Sunday School.
1956 - First Baptist begins its television ministry. Today, services are broadcast in 44 of South Carolina’s 46 counties and in several counties in Georgia and North Carolina.
1992 - Current worship center is completed to include sanctuary, classrooms, fellowship hall, choir/orchestra rehearsal room, music ministry offices, and television production center.
1999 - First Baptist opens what is now known as the Estep Family Life Center with gym, weight room, running track, educational space and locker rooms
2002 - First Baptist continued its tradition as the “mother church” of Columbia-area baptist congregations, planting Village Church in the Blythewood suburbs. Today, the church has 800 in worship and is a vibrant influence in Northeast Columbia.
2008 - First Baptist launches a giving campaign to renovate Lindsay Hall, modernizing the classroom space and creating a book store/coffee shop to minister to professionals in the Downtown area.
2015 - First Baptist acquires 50,000 square feet of space owned by the YMCA for more than a century. The acquisition brings FBC to ownership of the full city block. The Y consists of an original 1911 building, which had been dedicated by President Woodrow Wilson, and a 1950’s addition. First Baptist launched a giving campaign and began renovation of the 1950’s building for use by the youth, whose middle and high school groups were in need of worship and small group space. Minor renovations of the 1911 building were made to upfit space for the Church’s college ministry which ministers to students at the University of South Carolina, Columbia College and Columbia International University.
CHURCH OVERVIEW
Membership by age
Membership growth (graph)
Baptisms
Televised worship—our service is televised in 44 of 46 South Carolina counties and in markets in Georgia and North Carolina
Worship—FBC’s corporate worship service includes a 200-member choir, 20+ member orchestra, and has between 1,800 and 2,000 in attendance
Staff—FBC employs _____ ministerial and support staff
MINISTRY OVERVIEW
International Ministry—The student body at the nearby University of South Carolina has nearly 1,800 students from almost 100 countries. Many of these students are part of FBC’s international ministry. FBC also includes members of the local Hispanic and Burmese populations. Beginning around 2006, civil unrest in Myanmar led to an exodus of Burmese refugees, many of whom settled in Columbia, South Carolina. First Baptist is home to a thriving congregation of ______refugees, largely from the _____ and ____ people groups who meet in Boyce Chapel on Sundays following the morning worship service. FBC’s international ministry provides resources to these congregants, many of whom are members of FBC, and the service is conducted by a Burmese pastor in ______[language].
Homeless Ministry— Our homeless ministry feeds ___ - ___ people each month. On Thanksgiving Day, we partner with St. Peter’s Catholic Church to serve meals to those in need from the University’s former basketball venue.
REAL Mens Ministry
Children’s Ministry
College Ministry
Youth Ministry
Young Professional’s Ministry
Young Married’s Ministry
Choir/Orchestra
MISSIONS
FINANCIAL OVERVIEW
2017 Budget Total: ______
2017 Budget Allocation:
Personnel ______
Christian Education
Other
General
Facilities
Music Ministry
Debt Service
Missions
2017 Total Debt: ______
Budget Growth
AREA DEMOGRAPHICS
Income and Cost of Living Education What to Do Climate Destinations
FBC TEAM
Ministers Staff