Piscataway and Pennepack

Piscataway

1680 – present

In 1689, the Piscataway Baptist Church of Shelton, Middlesex County, New Jersey was organized as an independent church. Until that time it had been a branch of the Lower Dublin Baptist Church (later called Pennepack Baptist Church) under the ministry of Elias Keach. Very little is known of the church’s early life.

History tells us that the residents of this area had emigrated from Piscataqua District in the province of Maine and that they gave the same name to the district settled by them in the province of New Jersey.  In early writings we find the same name spelled two ways:  Piscataway and Piscataqua.

We learn the origin and the history of Piscataway Baptist Church from the records of churches that were started in the area around her.  No records exist of this church until 1781. The records were destroyed over time.  It is believed that there are two reasons for the church having none of their records.  First, British soldiers destroyed many records during the Revolutionary War while they were in control of New Brunswick. It is also believed a disgruntled church clerk destroyed the records.

We have learned from the history of Pennepack Baptist Church that after her first pastor Elias Keach resigned, he was very active in starting churches all around New Jersey.  At that time, Pennepek claimed to be the mother of all New Jersey churches.

            In his book Historical Sketch of the Lower Dublin (or Pennepek) Baptist Church, published in 1869, Horatio Jones gives the following account of the formation of the Piscataqua Baptist Church:  “These, were such other Baptists as he found among the new immigrants joined the Pennepek Church, so that, at one time, all the Baptists of Pennsylvania and New Jersey were regarded as general members of this church.”  We know from other readings that the church would have general meetings so that all the Baptists of the area could come to partake of the Lord’s Table and to conduct business.  “As the number of baptized believers increased in places at a distance from Pennepek, it was considered best to form separate churches:  and, hence, in New Jersey, the following were constituted, viz:  Middletown, in the winter of 1688: Piscataqua in the spring of 1689; and Cohansey in the spring of 1690.”

            The first pastor of Piscataway Baptist Church was Reverend John Drake.  The Baptist History Homepage tells us this about Reverend John Drake:  “Mr. Drake was ordained as pastor of the church at the time of its organization, and continued to occupy this relation til his death in 1739, a period of 50 years.  Nothing definite is known of Mr. Drake’s ministry or the condition of the church during his pastorate.”

The following paragraph, taken from the website of the Shelton Baptist Church (the new name of the Piscataway Baptist Church):  “…the Shelton Baptist Church is in Edison, New Jersey.  It is the second oldest Baptist church in New Jersey and the tenth oldest in the United States…among its original members was the Steele family, after whom the Stelton section of Edison, New Jersey is named.  Up until 1875 the church was known as the First Baptist Church of Piscataway.  The land occupied by the church and cemetery was purchased in April of 1731.  The first church was erected in 1748 and that building was taken down and rebuilt in 1825.  This building was destroyed by fire on New Years Day; January 1, 1851…The building which took its place was destroyed in a fire in 1924.  The present building was erected in 1925.”

Pennepack

1688 – present

We learned in our last chapter that the church at Piscataway was started out of the Pennepack Baptist Church now known as the Shelton Baptist Church. In his book America in Crimson Red, Brother Beller makes the following statement regarding the work done by Pennepack Baptist Church:  “However the Baptist of America do have a place where they first steadied their ship, got their bearing, and sailed off to save souls. That place was Philadelphia.”

We now look into the history of the Pennepack Baptist Church. One of the most known Baptists in all of England was a man named Benjamin Keach.  Benjamin Keach had a son, Elias Keach who has been described as “a wild scamp” who came to Pennsylvania in 1688. He came pretending to follow in his father’s footsteps. Because his father was well known in America, he was able to draw a crowd. While preaching in the town of Pennepack, he was so overcome with conviction that he immediately confessed to the crowd that he was not saved and threw himself on their mercy asking forgiveness.  The crowd recommended he go talk to a pastor who was at a nearby church named Thomas Dungan. Mr. Dungan met with the young man, led him to Christ and baptized him.  He immediately returned to Pennepack and continued preaching with great power and boldness. Souls were saved, people were baptized, and a church was constituted in 1688.

The Lord greatly used the church at Pennepack to evangelize the area. The Lord not only added to the church through deep-water baptism but many who came to Pennsylvania seeking religious freedom were already Baptist who had great zeal for the Lord.  In his book A History of the Baptist Thomas Armitage records the following accounts of some of these people. He recorded a group from Wales. “By the good providence of God, there came certain persons out of Radnorshire, in Wales, over into tills Province of Pennsylvania, and settled in the township of Dublin, in the county of Philadelphia, namely John Eaton, George Eaton, and Jane, his wife, Samuel Jones and Sarah Eaton, who had been baptized upon confession of faith, and received into the communion of the Church of Christ meeting in the parishes of Llandewi and Nantmel, in Radnorshire.”  There was also a record of a man who came from Ireland. “John Baker, who had been baptized, and a member of a congregation of baptized believers in Kilkenny.”

In their early records we also find a man who came from England, Samuel Vans.

Along with this group of mature believers and the new converts, the church evangelized and baptized so many in Pennsylvania and New Jersey that it was said that all Baptist in these areas were members of the Pennepack Baptist Church except for the members of Cold Spring Baptist Church. As the groups in these different areas of the state grew, they were organized into independent churches.

The Pennepack Baptist Church is still in existence today. At first they took turns meeting in the homes of their members. In 1707 Samuel Jones gave a plot of land to the church, and they erected their first house of worship.  This was a very simple structure being only twenty-five feet square. It was enlarged to thirty by forty feet in 1774. The size increase, along with the addition of pews and a stove, made it much more comfortable for the members. The present building was built in 1805 and is still standing today. In 1885 the church moved from their location to a new meetinghouse in the Village of Bustleton under the name Lower Dublin Baptist Church. In 2006, because of decline in attendance and funds being low, the decision was made to move back to the building that was built in 1805 and revert back to the name Pennepack Baptist Church.  From the inception of the church in 1688 until the present time the church has had forty pastors and three interim pastors.

Scotch Plains Baptist Church

In 1747, there were fifteen members of the Piscataway Baptist Church living in the area now known as Scotch Plains, New Jersey. The conditions of the land made it very hard for these members to travel from Scotch Plains to Piscataway. The area was still under the dominion of the King of Great Britain.  (The people may have owned the land, but Great Britain still reserved the rights of all property for anything that could be used for the good of Great Britain.) The area of Scotch Plains had just begun to be settled.  There were still no railroads, no post offices, no telegraphs and no stagecoaches as means of communication and travel. For these reasons, the above mentioned sent a request to their church requesting to be dismissed from Piscataway to form a church in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. The following is a resolution adopted by Piscataway Baptist Church.

“Whereas in the course of Divine Providence there is necessity of a church to be constituted at the Scotch Plains, in the county of Essex, in the East New Jersey, and some of the members of the Baptist Church at Piscataway in the county of Middlesex and the Providence aforesaid, having their dwelling at and near the said Scotch Plains, and having made application to us, and obtained a grant for permission from us, in order to incorporate themselves into a church; this may certify that William Darby,  Recompense Stanberry, John Lambert, John Dennis, John Stanberry, Henry Crosby, John Sutton Jr., Isaac Manning, Mary Brodwell, Mary Green, Mary Dennis, Tabitha Sutton, Catherine Manning, Sarah DeCamp, and Sarah Perce, when they are regularly constituted into a church according to the gospel order are given themselves up, in a church fellowship are fully and freely dismissed from our church.”

With the permission of the mother church, these early pioneers on August 5, 1747, met for the purpose of incorporating themselves into a church. All of the above mentioned members from Piscataway are believed to have joined themselves with this church, but there seems to be no evidence of Mary Dennis and Sarah Perce becoming members.

The organizational meeting also addressed the need of a church clerk and elders, Samuel Drake became the first clerk, William Darby and Recompense Stanberry were the first ruling elders and also served as deacons.

Shortly after the organization, the church extended a call to Benjamin Miller, a member of Piscataway, to become their first pastor. Bro. Miller accepted the call and was ordained by the Piscataway Baptist Church.  By July 31, 1765, the church had grown to the point that the deacons could no loner properly fulfill their duties. The church added two more deacons, Cabriel Ogdin and Samuel Brooks to aid the other deacons.  Bro. Miller led the church from 1747 until his death in 1781. 

Bro. Miller and his family are buried in the church graveyard on the same grounds as the church house today. Including Bro. Miller, there have been thirty-three pastors along with several men who supplied the pulpit between pastors.

First Baptist Church, New York

We know from history that there were three attempts to start a Baptist church in New York. The first attempt to plant a church was made in the year 1709 by a Baptist minister from Rhode Island by the name of Wickenden. We know two things about the ministry of Wickenden.  First is that he preached in New York for about two years with no apparent success from a human standpoint. We also know he stood firm on the principle of freedom of conscience and suffered for his stand. In 1712, he was imprisoned for three months for preaching the gospel message without a license.

Mr. Whitman from Connecticut came to New York in 1712 and preached until 1715.  During that time the work grew with several professions of faith, baptisms and at least one man named Mr. Ayres, surrendering to preach the Gospel. In 1724 the group of people soon organized into a church. Their first official act was to call Mr. Ayres as their pastor. He remained pastor until 1731 when he moved to Newport, Rhode Island. Shortly after this, the church went through hard times and ceased to exist.

The third and lasting work was the First Baptist Church, New York City. This work originated in 1745, when Jeremiah Dodge, a member of the Fishkill Baptist Church, moved to New York and opened his house for public worship. According to an article written by S. H. Cone, 1846  "Elder, Benjamin Miller, of New Jersey, preached here in that year, and baptized Joseph Meeks, who continued to be a very valuable member of the First Church until the 6th of October, 1782, when he died, aged 73 years. Robert North, and a few others who had belonged to the Arminian Church, having learned the way of the Lord more perfectly, now united with brethren Dodge and Meeks to sustain the Baptist cause. Mr. John Pine, a Licentiate of the Fishkill Church, preached for them until l750, when he died.”  In 1753 the mission work decided to become a branch of Scotch Plains Baptist Church, New Jersey. Benjamin Miller had first preached in the mission work in the home of Jeremiah Dodge and baptized their first converts.  The Lord blessed the mission work and it grew under the preaching of Benjamin Miller. On March 14, 1760, the mission was able to begin meeting in a church house they had built. The church then called a friend of Benjamin Miller to be their pastor, Brother John Gano, pastor of Morristown Church, New Jersey. He agreed to the call if they would give him liberty to fulfill previous commitments, which they did.

On June 19, 1762, the records show "twenty-seven members of Scotch Plains, having received previously letters of dismission, were publicly recognized as an independent Gospel Church. Brethren Miller and Gano conducted the religious exercises upon this interesting occasion; the latter was received into the fellowship of the Church, the same day upon the credit of his letter of dismission from the Yadkin Church, and entered immediately upon his pastoral charge. Many flocked together to hear him preach Christ crucified; in two or three years, the number of members exceeded two hundred; the meeting house was considerably enlarged, so as to measure fifty-two feet by forty two, and was then too small for the congregation."

The records of Scotch Plains Baptist Church show the following to be the charter membership of First Baptist Church New York:  John Carman, Jeremiah Dodge, Andrew Thompson, Samuel Edmonds, John Degray, Elias Balis, Jos. Meeks, Wm. Colegrove, Samuel Dodge, Catherine Degray, Mary Stillwell, Hannah Hayton, Hannah French, Mary Murphy, Margaret Dodge, Sarah Meeks, Sarah Thompson, Jane Calwell, Mary Edmonds, Susannah Mires, Ruth Perine, Mary Smith, Eliza VanDike, Mary Simmons, Rachel Williams, and Catherine Leonard, who had received letters of dismission for the purpose from this church organized the first regular Baptist church of New York City.

The First Baptist Church of New York has a very interesting history.  Here are a few interesting facts taken from their web page.  “The British occupation of the city during the Revolutionary War nearly destroyed the church. Because the pastor and many of its members had joined the Revolution, the British used the building as a horse stable. Gano served as chaplain to Colonel Webb, General Clinton and later General Washington. The present building is located on the site of the ambush of Gano’s regiment as they fled after defeats on Long Island to join Washington. When the Treaty of Peace celebration took place in Newburgh, Washington called on Gano to offer the prayer of thanksgiving. Washington also requested Gano to baptize him because he had studied the Scriptures and concluded that as a believer he should be immersed.”

On his return to the city, Gano found thirty-seven members. They immediately restored the church building, and within a few years had grown back to two hundred members. Gano left for Kentucky in 1788 because the government offered the former soldiers land of the frontier. There he started several Baptist churches. Gano was also a founder of the Baptist Brown University in Rhode Island.

“In 1802 the church had to tear down its building and built a new stone structure on Gold Street. Under the leadership of Dr. Spencer Cone, the church relocated in 1842 to Elizabeth and Broome St., a gothic structure still used as a church today. The church began to outgrow that facility, and, under the leadership of Dr. Thomas Anderson, moved to the corner of 39th Street and Park Avenue.  A magnificent gothic brown stone building was constructed, along with a separate Bible School building. 

“Six years after the arrival of Dr. I. M. Haldeman as pastor, the church relocated to its present facility. With a growing congregation, and many moving to the Upper West Side, this site at 79th Street and Broadway seemed more favorable. Haldeman was also assured by the city that a subway station would be located at our corner.

“Altogether, 19 pastors have served the church. Two were noted as chaplains of the U.S. Congress. Two served as college presidents. Two founded colleges. Together they have written over 300 books. Many have served in leadership roles of our Baptist denomination and other Christian associations. All have held to the fundamental truths of the Word of God."

A Political Pause

With all the hoop-la surrounding the Republican National Convention and the gearing up for the Democratic National Convention, it is a good time to pause, breathe, and think instead of just responding to the well scripted speeches, timely pictures, and emotion grabbing music.  Can we pause for a minute and THINK?

This nation was founded upon the Biblical principle of freedom, a long held Baptist principle of conscience.  As Dr. B.H. Carroll explains:

This follows from individual responsibility. If one be responsible for himself, there must be no restraint or constraint of his conscience. Neither parent, nor government, nor church, may usurp the prerogative of God as Lord of the conscience. God himself does not coerce the will. His people are volunteers, not conscripts. As has been stated, the prevalent theory in the days of the Reformation was: Whose is the government—his is the religion. Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes, signed by his grandfather, the great Henry of Navarre. Calvin burned Servetus at the stake. Luther loosed all the hounds of persecution upon the Baptists in his day. Holland, the little republic that tore her lowlands from the ocean flood, and for eighty years, by pike and dike, repelled the Spaniard with his Inquisition, did herself destroy her greatest statesman, John of Barneveldt, and banish her great historian Grotius for conscience sake. Henry VIII, in England, and his successors, delighted to persecute for conscience sake. John Knox, of Scotland, so tarnished his great name. The Congregationalists of New England and the Episcopalians of Virginia alike denied freedom of conscience to their fellowmen. There was not a government in the world that allowed full liberty of conscience to all men until a Baptist established the colony of Rhode Island.

At a great dining in England John Bright asked a Baptist statesman beside him: "What special contribution have your people made to the world?" "Civil and religious liberty," replied the statesman. "A great contribution," replied John Bright. Bancroft, in his history of America, declares: "Freedom of conscience, unlimited freedom of mind, was from the first the trophy of the Baptists." On November 5, 1658, these Baptists thus instructed their agent in England: "Plead our case in such sort as we may not be compelled to exercise any civil power over men’s consciences; we do judge it no less than a point of absolute cruelty." In their petition to Charles II they thus urged: "It is much in our hearts to hold forth a lively experiment, that a most flourishing civil state may stand, and best be maintained, with a full liberty of religious concernments." And so when their charter came it provided: "No person within the said colony, at any time hereafter, shall be in any wise molested, punished, disquieted or called in question, for any difference in opinion in matters of religion; every person may at all times freely and fully enjoy his own judgment and conscience in matters of religious concernment." And the charter of their great school, now Brown University, has a clause of equal import, a thing unknown at that time in the chartered schools of the whole world.

Freedom of conscience in our day, especially in this country, is a familiar thing. It was not so in earlier days. Pagan, Papist and Protestant ground liberty of conscience into powder under the iron heel of their despotisms.

You see, freedom of conscience is one of our most sacred freedoms.  The Baptist preacher, John Leyland spoke to James Madison about this most sacred freedom.  Our nation may have never been what it was had it not been for this meeting.  The result of this meeting was James Madison's promise that a Bill of Rights would be introduced by him and would begin with these words:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievance

Citizens would be guaranteed the freedom of conscience, to believe what they believed, to worship and live how they believed was right.  The freedom was guaranteed to use speech and press to say what they felt was right, and to petition the government when things were not right.

The result was a zealous, revived, soul winning group of believers who began to worship and serve the Lord in a land that guaranteed this right.  Thousands were saved.  Churches were planted at an astounding rate all across this country.  As a whole, our American fathers before us feared God, worked hard, and built a nation hardly rivaled in history.  We enjoyed what Gov. Chris Christie called last night, "An American Century".

Now today, the conservative choice of topics are abortion, gay marriage, the economy, and such.  We have become what our Baptist forefathers fought against.   We want a government that will legislate righteousness.  We want to vote for the man that will make a law that sodomites cannot marry.  We want a man that will see to it that government has the authority to tell us what is morally right and wrong.  Conservatives have become the "yang" to a welfare society.  We desire a government to take care of us morally.

Let me be clear.  I am entirely against abortion.  I am entirely against gay marriage.  I am entirely against frivolous spending.  But, it is not the government that has failed, it is God's people.  When we quit being a zealous people, revived, and soul winning and discipling others in the Word of God, our nation began to forget God.  We see the same pattern God warned Israel about in Deuteronomy 8:

"Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day: Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwell therein; and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied, then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God...and thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth."

I agree that our President was wrong when he said to small business owners, "You didn't build this."  But I also disagree with most conservatives in their "We built this".  No, God blessed us! He blessed a people who were bless-able.  He built this nation upon a people who feared Him, because they learned this from a people who were commissioned by Him.

Beware my conservative friends for voting in men who will legislate morality, for a day will come when a not so conservative will be in authority and it will have been us who gave them the keys to morality.  What then, when it is legislated that we cannot preach against abortion?  What then, when it is legislated that man and woman are not allowed to marry in a church with out giving that same right to sodomites?  What then, when it is legislated what is right and what is wrong?  Oh, we will cry out; but it will have been us who gave them this authority.  It will have been us who gave back all that our Baptist forefathers fought for.

We get all riled up when welfare checks are given to people who can, but will not work.  Then we, a people too lazy and luke warm to fulfill our great commission, want a government to take care of us morally.  It won't work!  We will pay for this unwise choice.  No wonder our Lord said concerning a nations blessing:

"If my people, which are called by name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then  ill I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." -2 Chron. 7:14

Columbia, Duck Creek and Columbia Baptist

In October of 1788 John Cleves Symmes and several of his business partners purchased one million acres of land from the United States government. The deal fell through and the land went back to the government. In September of 1794 Symmes obtained a patent for 248,540 acres of land in the Northwest Territory. Sometime later that year or early the following year Captain Benjamin Stites purchased 10,000 acres from John Symmes. A land that he had desired since 1786 when he had opportunity to see first hand the land he would one-day purchase and acquire a vision for.

In 1786 Captain Stites was escorting supplies down the Ohio River to Limestone and Washington on the Kentucky side of the river. Upon his arrival at Washington he learned that Indians had raided some settlers homes and stolen their horses. He offered to lead a party of men in hopes of retrieving the stolen property. They tracked the Indians up the Little Miami River as far as present day Xenia and had to return home empty handed. What Captain Stites did return with was a vision for what the Little Miami valley could one day be.

We know from the historical records of Scotch Plain Baptist Church in Scotch Plains, New Jersey that Captain Stites was a member of that church. We also know from those records that many of those who came down with him were members of the same church or relatives of his family.

In November of 1788 Benjamin and about thirty others met up with Judge Symmes (who had left Elizabeth Town New Jersey) at Red Stone, Pennsylvania. Together they made their way down the Ohio River to Limestone (Maysville) Ky. There they divide company. Judge Symmes began to send out exploring parties to the land he had purchased. He himself stayed a Maysville until January 1789 and headed along with fourteen others to North Bend and established the third settlement between the Great Miami and the Little Miami rivers.  Captain Stites took a small group with him on down to a spot he had picked to start a new colony, now known as Columbia.

They landed on what is now known as Columbia on November 18,1788. The first desire upon landing was to give praise unto God for His “sustenance, guidance and protection and all united in a hymn of praise. “ The names of those history calls the first boatload were, Major Benjamin Stites, Mrs. Benjamin Stites, Benjamin Stites Jr., Ann w. Stites, Rachel Stites, Greenbright Bailey, Mrs. Greenbright Bailey, Reason Bailey, Abel Cook, Jacob Mills, Elijah Mills, Jonathan Stites, Ephraim Kibby, John S. Gano, Mrs. Mary Gano, Thomas C. Wade, Hezekiah Stites, Elijah Stites, Edmund Buxton, Daniel Shoemaker, _____ Hempstead, Evan Shelby, Allen Woodruff, Hampton Woodruff, Joseph Cox and Benjamin Cox.  Many of their families had remained at Maysville for the winter and until buildings could be built to live in.

This brave group became very busy in preparing for the winter ahead and preparing to fight off the Indians. The winter was long and hard, the Indians proved to be a help that first year. In January of 1789 they realized that their biggest battle was the river. The High Flood came along and destroyed all of the homes that had been built except for one. It was at this time they realized they had had miscalculated in the placement of a new colony. The next year they made many changes but never recovered as far as a future settlement. 

While they were continuing to settle and expand they had worship services in the different homes. On January 20, 1790 this group of pioneers met for the purpose of organizing a church.

The Columbia Baptist Church was constituted in 1790 under the ministry of Stephen Gano and under the authority of First Baptist Church in New York. At that time Stephen Gano was working out of First Baptist Church planting churches at Hillsdale, Hudson and Nine Partners.  Dr. Gano’s brother John Gano and his family had arrived on the first boat that landed in Columbia and Dr. Gano’s father had married one of the Stites from Scotch Plains, New Jersey.  “The History of the Miami Baptist Association” gives the following account of the organizational meeting.

“The first Baptist church in Ohio was constituted by the aid of Rev. Stephen Gano, afterward of Providence, Rhode Island, on the 20^th of January, 1790, at the house of Benjamin Davis, in Columbia, five miles above the present day Cincinnati. This was on Saturday, and immediately after organizing the church, then consisting of nine persons, viz.: Benjamin Davis, Mary Davis, Isaac Ferris, Jonah Reynolds, Elizabeth Ferris, Amy Reynolds, John Ferris, John S. Gano, and Thomas C. Wade. Isaac Ferris was appointed deacon, and John S. Gano, Clerk. The door of the church was then opened and Elijah Stites, Rhonda Stites and Sarah Ferris who were received on experience, and baptized by Dr. Gano on the next day. …. Soon after three others, Mrs. Meek, Smith, and Bailey were united by letter: and thus the first Baptist church in the Northwestern Territory commenced with the above twelve members.”

The life of the Columbia Baptist Church has had several names and several locations. The sketch on the left is of the church as it stood in 1830. We know from a historical marker located at Pioneer Park across from the Lunken airport in Cincinnati, Ohio that their first location was there. The monument erected to their memory states, “The Columbia Baptist Church erected its first house of Worship on this spot in 1792. This lot contains two acres of ground purchased of Benjamin Stites, and was deeded TO THE BAPTIST OF COLUMBIA TOWNSHIP.”

As General Anthony Wayne drove the Indians up into the Miami Valley the early pioneers began to move out of the Columbia to settle new lands. In 1808 the church decided to move to an area more accessible to their members and away from the spring flooding that continued to plague the area where they had settled. They move to Duck Creek and Edwards Road, along with a new location came a new name, Duck Creek Baptist Church. In the 1870’s the church was again facing the same problem. Their members had continued to pioneer out into land that was safe to farm and raise families. In 1875 the church moved to Mt. Lookout on Grace Avenue.  The church became know as the Duck Creek Baptist Church at Mt. Lookout. Then in 1904 the church decided to move to Hyde Park. The first phase was completed when the Chapel was built in 1907.  In second phase began in1924 with the main sanctuary and the hall. They were completed in 1926. The name of the church became the Hyde Park Baptist Church.