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West Center celebrates 125 years
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By ELISA SAND, Staff Reporter
| 07/23/2010 |
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West Center Baptist Church was renovated and rebuilt by 1980.
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The first event is an open house Aug. 13 at 5:30 p.m. with a program beginning at 6:30 p.m.
Aug. 14 features a golf tournament at 8 a.m. at the Madison Golf and Country Club; a ladies tea and children's games at 10 a.m. at West Center Baptist; and a catered meal at the Dakota Prairie Playhouse (reservations required) at 1 p.m. with a program at 2:15 p.m.
Sunday's service will be held at 10 a.m. with a free lunch to follow.
The guest speaker at Saturday's luncheon is former local pastor Ron Mayforth who served as church pastor from 1964-67. Former student patsor Chris Gorman will be the keynote speaker at Sunday service.
Gorman is currently pastor for Central Valley Community Church in Hartford (a church started by West Center Baptist). That congregation has since established new churches in Dell Rapids and Crooks, and the Dell Rapids congregation is working on starting a new church.
Mayforth and Gorman are two of five former pastors that are planning to attend the anniversary celebration. Also attending are the Revs. Elton Kirstein (interim pastor from 1992-93), Oliver Bender (1975-78 and 1982-87) and Steve Vetter (1993-2007).
Established in May 1885, West Center Baptist was originally organized as The First German Baptist Church. Services were held at a local home the first year, until the first church building was constructed in 1886 at the corner of what was then Main Street (now S.W. 1st Street) and Liberty Avenue.
The first building was dedicated on Nov. 21, 1886, and remodeled and enlarged in 1902. As the congregation continued to grow, tragedy struck when a fire on Feb. 23, 1919, burned the church to the ground. Unswayed, the congregation took steps to rebuild, purchasing property on West Center Street. Construction of the new church was completed on Jan. 23, 1921.
According to church history, during this time, there was also a movement to introduce English into the sermons. From the time of its founding in 1885, sermons were spoken exclusively in German. That practice, however, was prohibited during World War I (1914-18).
Beginning in 1919, church services were held in English every other Sunday and by 1925 all services were in English.
In 1958 the congregation voted to establish the North American Baptist Nursing Home in Madison. The facility was dedicated Feb. 28 and remains in operation today although it has changed names several times. It is known today as the Golden Living Center.
The congregation faced another challenge on Nov. 11, 1978, when fire struck. The sanctuary survived the blaze, but the east side of the building was seriously damaged.
The church that stands today is the rebuilt and renovated structure that was completed in April 1980. Some renovation work took place in 1991 following the third fire in the church's history. This blaze caused minimal damage.
The congregation continues to look forward, however. New property was purchased in 2005 in the northwestern part of Madison with the hope for future construction of a new church.
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©Madison Daily Leader 2010
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