OUR HISTORY

Clinton Ave Baptist Church was organized on August 27, 1944, with the original name “Twenty-Third Street Baptist Church” and cooperated with the Southern Baptist Convention.

The fifteen charter members were: Mr. and Mrs. Boone, Mr. and Mrs. Handley, Rev. and Mrs. Ibsen and family, Elnora Hall, and Mr. and Mrs. Keith McCormack. Rev. Ibsen served as the first pastor. The church doubled in size the first year, and although the church was small, the members were loyal and strong in prayer and faith in God.

The church moved to Sutter Street for a short time, where rapid growth and membership took place. The church began to pray for a larger building. The Bethany Presbyterian Church at 31st and Clinton offered their property in exchange for lots purchased by the church on 24th and Andrade, plus $10,000. There is no human answer to why they accepted the offer since their asking price was $30,000, but, thank God, they did.

The first building where the church worshiped is now the Fellowship Hall, the current sanctuary was built with mostly volunteer labor.

The years at the present location have been fruitful, and many lives have been touched by the ministry. A number have gone out from this church into full-time Christian service and are now serving as pastors, foreign missionaries, music and educational directors, and in other Christian work. The concern for missions has continued from the first church meeting until now..

Over the eighty-five years, approximately eleven pastors have served in leadership, with Pastor T.L. Epton serving more than twenty-seven years from 1962 to 1989. Rev. Arthur W. Warner served faithfully as pastor for over 12 years until his homegoing in 2017. Rev. J. Odell Whitfield was elected pastor in May of 2019 and is dedicated to his God-inspired vision of the church growing “spiritually, numerically, and financially.”

This abbreviated history is concluded with the words of a member spoken just after moving to this location. He said, “We are here today, not because we deserve this building or because we earned it—but because the Lord has been good to us. When the church was small, it was faithful. As we enlarge and grow, we must humble ourselves and be faithful to God. In the course of all our activities, our main purpose has been, and is, the propagation of the gospel and the salvation of the lost.”

As we look back at the history of our church, let us dedicate ourselves anew to this major task given to us by our dear Lord.