Fairbanks Missionary Baptist Church was founded in 1828. Its origins lie from a group of believers from the once Turman Creek Baptist Church.
Those who were interested in forming the new church sought help from other Christians and asked them to form a council of ‘presbytery.’ That first meeting in 1828 was held at the home of a Joseph Ransford. Thomas Kennedy was appointed moderator and Abner Davis was appointed clerk of the council. Those intending to form the church were examined by the council and were found “orthodox and orderly.” The right hand of fellowship was extended to them by the council, and they were pronounced a church of Jesus Christ.
After first inviting Christians from other churches to sit in council with them, they then unanimously chose the designation of “Fairbanks” for the name of their church.
The church at this time called William Stansel to assume the pastoral care of the church. Many of the first officers of the church bore names that are still common in the community today. Joseph Ransford Jr. was appointed treasurer and James Drake, clerk.
The church’s first building was made of logs and built in 1834 on the land of John Lloyd, about 1 mile south of town and on the road to Shelburn. The building did not last long but the well the church used was still visible up into the 1970’s.
A new building was built in 1840 and 1841 on the south edge of the property currently owned by the church. The building site is now a part of the cemetery. In 1871 the church was again in need of a new building. In March of that year, the church decided to build a new meeting house just slightly to the north of the current location. At this time a couple, Benjamin and Sarah Drake deeded the present property to the church for $40.
This building came to a sudden end when the roof collapsed in June of 1905. A new building was built on the old site and finished by November of that same year. The church met in the Fairbanks Methodist Church until the new building was completed. The building built in 1905 is the one we currently use.
Up to this time, the official name of the church was “Fairbanks Baptist Church.” Of course, today we have the word Missionary included in the name. How this change came to be is clouded in the fog of history, but we do have a few facts. There is no record of when the name was first changed but the first recorded use of our present name was in a letter addressed to the church in 1938 and recorded in the old church record book. It was next used in the year-end report presented and recorded in the record book for April 30, 1943. This name obviously must have been used extensively much earlier but was not made the official name of our church until 1964 when the church clerk was directed in a business meeting to include ‘missionary’ in all future records.
In March of 1944 Bill stone was called to pastor the church. Up until this time the church had been a part-time church with services usually on two Sundays each month. It was during the ministry of Bill Stone that the church decided to become ‘full-time’ and began meeting every Sunday.
It should be noted that the church has survived by God’s grace ultimately, and its unique ability to adjust when the times demand it. We look forward to continuing to impact our community with the Gospel as we’ve done for centuries.
