Haslett Community Church

I attend First Baptist Church, Montgomery. In the essay I will describe the church leadership, the church history, our doctrine and theology, and the ministry, missions, and evangelism.

The New Salem Association of the Old Regular Baptist was established in the year of 1825 in Eastern Kentucky. The New Salem Association is still going strong today. Most associations today are a branch from the New Salem Association. There are a few Old Regular Baptist churches that are private; basically they do not belong to any association. The New Salem Association is in correspondence with several other Associations which is as followed Union, Old Indian Bottom, Sardis, Philadelphia, Northern New Salem, and Friendship.

The original church was built in 1804 and was for both white men and Indians alike. The first preacher was Joseph Brady who was pastor for 17 years. It wasn't a greatly populated area but people came from miles around for the services. As the settlement grew so did the congregation and they soon built a new church on High Street in 1841. Even with the main church there were still occasional services held in the old one until is was blown down by a storm in 1866 (Hein, 957).

Mead, Loren B. The Once and Future Church Reinventing the Congregation for a New Mission Frontier . The Alban Institute, Inc., 1991. Kindle eBook file.

My great grandfather was a carpenter and helped reconstruct and add additions to the United Methodist Church in Hampton Iowa to make it what it is today (Elphic, 11/9/13). My family has been members of this church sense it was first made in the 1800’s (Elphic, 11/9/13). My ancestors and family frequently gave donations to the church and attended regularly (Elphic, 11/9/13). Many of my ancestors and family got married and baptized in the United Methodist Church as well (Elphic, 11/9/13). They would always have the church pastor present during funerals (Elphic, 11/9/13). My ancestors would read from the bible every night (Elphic, 11/9/13).

The Episcopal Church was founded in the 16th century during the Protestant Reformation on the belief to spread Christianity and worship . The Episcopal church originated from the Church of England that modeled much of it’s religious beliefs from the Roman Catholic Church. Episcopalians (followers of the Episcopal Church) refer to their religion as “Protestant, yet Catholic,” (Wikipedia). I had the privilege to interview one of my teachers from middle school, Erin Havens. She grew up as a conservative Episcopalian, and described that experience as being almost identical to, “The way the Roman Catholics hold their masses, holidays and how they practice their beliefs,” (Havens). Which is true, because most of the modeling of the faith is role modeled after the Catholic Church other than some key differences.

The members of Circular Congregational Church are proud to be one of the oldest continuously worshipping congregations in the South. The congregation was co-founded with Charles Towne, 1680–1685, by the English Congregationalists, Scots Presbyterians, and French Huguenots of the original settlement. These "dissenters" erected a Meeting House in the northwest corner of the walled city. In 1804, the time had come to replace the Meeting Street house with a more commodious building. Martha Laurens Ramsay proposed a circular form and Charleston’s leading architect, Robert Mills, who also designed the Washington Monument in D.C., completed the plans. The church he designed was a Pantheon-type building 88 feet in diameter with seven great doors and 26 windows. On its main floor and in the gallery it was said to accommodate 2,000 worshippers. In 1838 the people of Circular Church, as it was now popularly called, erected a New England-style steeple that towered 182 feet above Meeting Street. The old Circular Church fell into ruinous condition following a great fire in 1861 and the Civil War....

His church is a “good sized” suburban church that has been around for 295 years. He describes the parishioners as having a “broad tent” of theological views. This congregation is open to new ideas and re-visiting the old. They appear to be carrying out intentional missional work in their community

The Church that I interviewed a church in town called Westwood Mennonite Brethren. Westwood Mennonite started September 25, 1960, as the Peden Hill Mennonite Brethren Church under the leadership of Rev. John Esau. In 1961. After this it joined the Mennonite Brethren family of conferences and started meeting in a new building that they could call their own. Additional building projects were undertaken in 1963, 1974, 1991, and 2007. When the church started they were on the corner of Westwood drive and Range road which is now a Ukrainian orthodox church. In 1974, they moved to a new location in the Westwood area and subsequently renamed the church to Westwood Mennonite Brethren Church. Membership in 1965 stood at 65 baptized adult members; in 1975, 105; in 1985, 193; in 1995, 290; in 2000, 423; in 2013, 300. Average weekly attendance in 2013 was 549. After this they moved to a new location on Ospika and Dufferin. They are now in their new location on Ospika right beside the old one. Westwood is quite an old church, however two of the founding members are still attending, their names are Dr and Mrs Conrad. Over the years

Webber, Christopher. Welcome to the Episcopal Church: An Introduction to Its History, Faith, and Worship. Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse Pub., 1999. Print.