Central Baptist Church

History of Central Baptist Church

         Since the early 1700's, Baptists have been in the Pioneer Valley area. They were part of the Separatist movement, groups that separated from the Church of England and later from the Puritan movement.

         In 1729 a minister came out from Boston in response to an appeal from Westfield residents. He baptized seven people. On April 17, 1753, Jonathan Fowler granted some land to a group of Baptists near Little River as long as it was used for worship.

         The First Baptist Church of Westfield was formed in 1784 when twenty-one Westfield residents signed the organizational covenant. They built a church in the center of Westfield somewhere between the locations of the two bridges on East Main Street.

         By 1790 a group living in the Agawam area, but attending First Baptist in Westfield, had decided to form its own church there. It is now the First Baptist Church of West Springfield. The Westfield church struggled for survival. In 1806 several members of this first church tried organizing another, which became known as the Baptist Church of Christ or First Baptist Church Reorganized.

        The Reverend Andrew Smith became the first pastor of Central Baptist Church. The church grew and by Fall they had 29 members. The church joined the state association, sent contributions for the Burma mission (Judson) and organized a Sabbath School with six teachers, 25 students, and 100 volumes in the library. They met in the town meeting house.

        Members in 1816 left to form a church in Russell and 74 members left in 1830 to form the Second Baptist Church in Wyben (West Farms). The Wyben church was disbanded during the Civil War and the site was later purchased by the Wyben Union Chapel Society.

        In 1833 a group led by a former pastor, Andrew Smith, split from the church over the issue of supporting missions; they were for it, the others were not. They applied to the Westfield Baptist Association (of Churches) for recognition as a Baptist church and on May 23, 1833, Central Baptist Church was organized. Within a short time, most of the members of the First Baptist Church were absorbed into Central Baptist.

        In April 1836, David Wright was called as pastor and in the Fall they laid plans to build a church. The meeting house was framed on August 10, 1837, and completed on August 29, 1938. It was located on the corner of Elm and Church Streets. By 1840, the church had 115 members.

        Around this time, a visiting pastor convinced a large number of the members to become Mormons, and the church was considerably weakened. But it bounced back and by 1848 it had 210 members on the rolls.

        In June of 1863 under the leadership of its new pastor, John Jennings, the church laid plans for a new sanctuary. The Chapel (now Hays Hall) was completed first and the sanctuary followed a year later in 1868. The cost was $32,000. A new organ was purchased and horse sheds were built on the corner of the property.

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