Newport [KY] Baptist Church Founded by Pioneers
From Pieces of the Past
By Jim ReisOn the outside, First Baptist Church of Newport looks like many other churches in Northern Kentucky -- solid and stoic. But inside one finds a maze of hallways, doors and rooms. In many ways, the interior reflects the varied and complex character of one of Northern Kentucky's oldest congregations.
The church, which marked its 175th anniversary in 1987, started during Newport's pioneer days. Seven of Northern Kentucky's early settlers decided to form their own church on Aug. 8, 1812. The fledgling church became a member of the North Bend Baptist Association on Sept. 12, 1812. The names of some charter members have been lost; the four that are known are Charles Helm, Joseph McPike and Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Todd.
In the beginning, the congregation had no permanent building, so services were held in members' homes on a rotating basis. The congregation did not call its first pastor, Henry Roach, until 1817.
By 1828 church membership had grown to 36. Records of the North Bend Baptist Association indicate that the congregation changed its name for a short time to Covington Baptist Church. Some have speculated that the name change was made because many members lived in Covington.
No church records exist for the period between 1832 to 1840. The first available records after that period indicate that the church was reorganized in 1840 and First Baptist Church of Newport was the name.
The reorganization took place on Feb. 12, 1840, when several Baptists met at the old Mt. Pleasant School House in what is now Ft. Thomas. Among those at the meeting were charter members Joseph and Elizabeth Todd.
During the next few years, the congregation met in various places, including school buildings, halls and even the Newport Courthouse. Then on July 6, 1844, church trustees took the first step toward building a church and purchased a lot from James Taylor for $1. The lot was on the south side of Bellevue Street (now known as Fourth Street), between East Row (now Washington Avenue) and Saratoga Street.
The congregation was not wealthy, however, and by April of 1846 only the basement was finished. Services were held there until the rest of the church was built.
Records show that the church had 13 different pastors and some 260 converts over the next 20 years. The Sunday School had 20 teachers and 260 students. Sunday School work became one of the hallmarks of the First Baptist Church of Newport.
A Kentucky Post story in 1876 noted a "grand children's concert" planned at the church. Tickets were 25 cents and the writer added that by buying a ticket, people would be "both contributing to a good cause and enjoying a most delightful treat in the way of children's music."
W. W. Tinker of New Orleans was brought in to direct the concert. Three years later Tinker was named pastor of First Baptist Church. He held that post for about 16 months.
Tinker was succeeded by G.M. Shott, who spearheaded the drive that led to the purchase of the Congregational Church at York Street and Ringold (now Eighth Street). First Baptist traded its building and a lot on Bellevue Street and $2,000 for the lot and a church building at the next location. Another church - the Bellevue Street Church - later opened in the old Baptist church building.
The church at York and Eighth streets was an old frame building that many members of First Baptist wanted to replace. But because finances were tight, building plans were postponed. In the late 1880s, as church membership grew to more than 450 and as the Sunday School continued to draw people, the call for a larger building was renewed.
Work began on a new building in 1891. The old building was not razed; it was moved to the site of the Walnut Street mission in Newport.
The day before dedication ceremonies on Feb. 14, 1892, a Kentucky Post writer described the new building as impressive in its simplicity of design. The front-page story noted that the seating capacity was almost 700. The pipe organ cost $1,200 and was a gift of the church's Young People's Society. The new Sunday School room on the floor below the main hall had seating for 400.
The church also featured windows with cathedral glass. A window that portrayed Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane was donated in memory of Sarah Gosney. She was the wife of Francis Gosney, a blacksmith and owner of the Newport-Alexandria and Newport-Grants Lick bus lines.
One of the Gosney's nine children, Edward Gosney, later became president of the West Side Bank in Newport, and a grandson, Clifford, owned some of the land that is part of A. J. Jolly Park in southern Campbell County
The value of the new building was estimated at $22,000.
A Kentucky Post story the day after the dedication said the event began at 11 a.m. and lasted throughout the day with more than 800 people attending the evening service. Among the honored guests was Thomas Abbott, one of the oldest Baptists in Northern Kentucky. He was 90.
Two other churches grew out of First Baptist in Newport - the First Baptist Church of Bellevue in 1901 and the First Baptist Church of Ft. Thomas in 1916. The formation of the daughter churches created a fluctuation in membership figures for the Newport church in the early 1900s.
A Sunday School roster in May of 1914 listed some 730 students, making it the third largest Baptist Sunday School in the state. According to church records, the largest Sunday School class ever held at the church was on Rally Day, Oct. 25, 1925, when 1,454 children came.
The church parsonage has been located at a variety of spots. It moved from 712 York Street to 646 Maple Ave. in 1914. It was located next to the church and then out of the city to 1932 N. Ft. Thomas Ave., Ft. Thomas in 1924.
The congregation began construction of an education building adjacent to the church in 1924. Plans called for a four-story building with an auditorium seating 2,000 people and eventually a recreation center and swimming pool. The pool and the third and fourth floors of the building were dropped. The building was not structurally strong enough to handle the weight of the additional floors. The education building opened in August of 1926.
"The Sunday School Builder" magazine featured the First Baptist Church of Newport in its February 1927 issue. The article said that under the pastorate of W. B. Harvey the Newport church had grown from 645 members in 1921 to 1,292 members in 1927. The budget had climbed from $9,000 to $42,000.
Harvey had served three terms in the state legislature and was a chaplain in World War I before coming to First Baptist. Credit for part of the membership increase went to 200 church volunteers, who went door-to-door in Newport seeking new members.
During the summer and fall of 1930, the church was remodeled. The remodeled church and an organ were dedicated on Oct. 19, 1930. J. Alfred Schehl of the American Guild of Organists presiding.
During the 1937 flood, the First Baptist Church became a relief center, offering food and clothing to those forced out of their homes by high water. Temporary shelter also was provided in the church's educational building. The relief center remained in operation for almost a year.
The congregation began to change in the 1940s. As people moved to the suburbs, they were replaced by people from Eastern Kentucky looking for work.
Out of their efforts to minister to the new arrivals came Calvary Baptist Church in Newport's west end. Started as a mission of First Baptist Church, it became a separate church and then merged with Trinity Baptist Church when the city purchased the old Calvary Baptist lot at Eighth and Brighton streets.
In July 1950, a fund-raising drive was begun at First Baptist for another building at its complex at Eighth and York streets. Construction did not begin, however, until March 9, 1958. The $250,000 educational building was dedicated on April 19, 1959.
During the 1960s, members of the church became active in the Committee of 500, which was formed in Campbell County to clean up Newport's image as a center of gambling and crime; the church also operated a community Clothes Closet and Food Pantry for the needy. Those efforts for the poor were later turned over to Brighton Center.
The church, however, retained a three-day ration of food to handle emergency cases when Brighton Center was closed.
The First Baptist Church today has about 1,000 members, many of whom live outside Newport.
========== [This document by Jim Reis first appeared in the Kentucky Post; then in book form as Pieces of the Past. The rights to it are with the Campbell County Historical Society Library, Alexandria, KY. Used with permission. Scanned and formatted by Jim Duvall.]
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