Second Baptist celebrates 150 years

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John Chambers/THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

The Rev. Arnold D. Fitzgerald Jr. is leading anniversary services at Second Baptist, his childhood church. He has served as pastor for 21 years.

John Chambers/THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

The Second Baptist Church, 424 N.W. Laurent, was founded in 1878 and called the "B" Street Church. The church celebrates 150 years this October.

Anniversary celebration

Second Baptist Church will celebrate 150 years with a celebration that includes a Festival of Praise at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 10; a homecoming picnic at 6 p.m. on Saturday; and a worship service at 11 a.m., homecoming dinner and 3:30 p.m. worship on Sunday.

By JOHN E. CHAMBERS

THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

NORTH TOPEKA --- The congregation of Second Baptist Church in North Topeka will observe its 125 the anniversary with a three-day celebration from Oct. 10 through 12.

Surviving floods in 1903 and 1951, and fires in 1904, 1924 and 1959, as well as a congregational split in the early 1900s, the congregation still worships in a brick building which was dedicated Sept. 15, 1910.

The church sits at 424 N.W. Laurent, just east o(divided by)f the north end of the Topeka Boulevard bridge. A banner hanging along the west side of the church announces the celebration for motorists coming over the bridge to see.

The original name of the church, founded in 1878 during Reconstruction, was the "B" Street Church. It was located on the northwest corner of North Tyler and Northwest Railroad streets. The corner stone for the first home of the Second Baptist Church was laid Oct. 10, 1878, and the building was opened for worship on March 16, 1879, according to a printed history of the church.

On July 2, 1887, The Benevolent Bonner announced "The Second Baptist Church of North Topeka has purchased three lots for a new building, they anticipate an $8,000 church." The article also said $108 was collected in the donations from the previous Sunday.

At that time, the pastor was the Rev. P. W. Barker. The church had had 224 additions, 206 of them by baptism, bringing the membership to 540.

A church split occurred during the pastorate of the Rev. Andrew White, who then organized what was called the Central Baptist Church. The name later was changed to Ebenezer Baptist Church. Damaged by the devastating flood of 1903, the church was destroyed by fire the following year and was rebuilt. The new building was then erected as the Second Baptist Church in 1910.

Second Baptist has had a succession of 10 pastors and three interim pastors in its 125 years. The current pastor is the Rev. Arnold D. Fitzgerald Jr., who has served for 21 years. The first pastor, the Rev. Barker, served 22 years, the Rev. M. J. Burton served for 34 years the Rev. Frank J. Brown served 17 years, and several others served more than 10 years.

Pastor Fitzgerald, who grew up in North Topeka and attended elementary school at the old Grant School, was baptized in a galvanized sheet metal pool by the late Pastor Walter Long Sr.

Pastor Fitzgerald said he was surprised when Second Baptist Church, his childhood church, asked him to take over in March 1982. The congregation approved his appointment and he began in April.

"Many of the members were familiar with me from growing up over on N. Taylor Street. Residents of the west section of North Topeka call it Sand Town," he said. "No ministers were in my family, so I never expected that I would be such a leader, especially at our home church. This congregation has been my only charge to date as being pastor."

Under Pastor Burton's leadership from 1916 to 1950, membership increased from 135 to 300, and within three years the church had erased a heavy indebtedness. He had come to the local church from Iowa, where he had served several churches and worked as the state secretary of the Baptist Mission.

The church was incorporated in 1919 as Second Missionary Baptist Church. The wood frame building was Dec. 20, 1924, by a second fire that started in a small grocery store next door to the church. The church was rebuilt on its present foundation. Through insurance, the new brick structure was opened debt free on Aug. 9, 1925.

During the years of the Great Depression in the 1930s, Pastor Burton sacrificed a year's salary to keep the church financially viable. During the 1940s, many of its members served in the U.S. armed forces. In 1943 the church began sponsorship of Boy Scout Troop 24. That troop received the National Honor Unit recognition in 1981.

The church, along with the entire North Topeka community, was hit by the severe flood of July 14, 1951. The water, which reached balcony level in the church, demolished the parsonage next door, and left and mud and silt that men of the church had to remove by hand shoveling from the basement.

A new parsonage was built by Mennonite emergency contractors on the site of the demolished one. Shiloh Baptist Church permitted Second Baptist to use their building for worship while the cleanup and restoration progressed. In 1954 a third fire damaged the sanctuary and first unit. The building was renovated.

Pastor Fitzgerald was baptized and united with the church, along with his family, on Jan. 22, 1961. Before taking the position as pastor in 1981, he had been an associate minister of Mount Calvary Baptist Church of Flint, Mich.

Pastor Fitzgerald received a Bachelor of Science degree in Christian Missions from Nyack College in Nyack, N.Y., and a Master of Divinity degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Ill. Numerous other members and pastors of the church have gone forth to serve in other areas to pastor, start churches and work in Christian education.

Dr. E. B. Hicks, an administrator in the American Baptist Churches of the USA, inspired Second Baptist to become affiliated with the American Baptist Churches. Hicks also was involved with the Western Baptist Bible College extension of Topeka.

The Rev. Ardie Hayes served pastorates in Sioux Falls, S.D., and returned to Second Baptist after his retirement. The Rev. Waddell Chambers, who was ordained at Second Baptist, was a long term pastor at St. James Baptist Church in Emporia. Pastor Walter Long Sr. served with the American Baptist Church after moving from Second Baptist. Dr. E. B. Hicks Organized African American congregations on the East Coast, and returned to Kansas to become pastor of the Second Missionary Baptist Church in Junction City. Later, he served as director of the Western Baptist Bible College in Topeka.

The Rev. Charles Chapman completed seminary at ITC in Atlanta, Ga., and returned to specialize in family counseling. The Rev. Michael Fletcher, who began his ministry with Second Baptist, founded and became pastor of Powerhouse Church of God in Christ in Atlanta. Then he finished doctoral studies and founded another church in Pittsburgh, Pa. That church is involved in feeding, clothing and housing the homeless.

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