While construction men are busy erecting a new home for the congregation of the First Baptist church destruction men soon will be just as busy tearing down the old building. In combination they will make another milestone in the history of Ames.  Until some Sunday in September the congregation of the First Baptist church at Fifth and Kellogg avenue will be without a church.

For five months services will be held in the Great Hall, Memorial Union beginning May 8, at 11 a.m. The church school during that same period for all groups will meet in the Roger Williams House on Lynn avenue from 10-12 a.m.  Those who attend the church school services at the student center will not be far away from the new church which is under construction at 200 Lynn avenue. 

A “home away from home” for the Baptist students, the Roger Williams student center will be located at the new church. During the year students find it a “habit” to attend the Sunday evening services which begin at 5:30 p.m. at the “house.” In addition to the morning and evening worship services, the student program also includes regular social meetings.

The Baptists of Ames have been making plans for the new church since 1943 when it was decided to build. Since then no time has been lost in making the new church a reality. The lot was purchased on the campus in 1946. On September 26, 1948, young and old members of the church participated in the “breaking ground” ceremony. Services for the last time were held in the old church May 1.  Since 1868 the First Baptist church has been a landmark in Ames. At that time the church was known under a different name. The citizens of Ames knew the church as the “Squaw Creek Church.”

Members of the Baptist church in 1949 are not the only ones who have been without a church. During the winter of 1870 there was no church for its 30 members. Sunday school and church services were held in the second floor of “Tomblin’s Hall,” in the old Regulator Building.

From left: Prof. George B. Hartman, chairman of the advisory board; Dr. Charles E. Friley, president of Iowa State College; Dr. Ronald C. Wells, pastor; W.L. Allan, mayor; Dr. Walter Halbert and Dr. Milton C. Froyd.

With a maximum of faith and over a third of the money they will need for their new church and student center at 200 Lynn, 250 members of the First Baptist church of Ames and their leaders Sunday pledged to do everything possible to see that both buildings are ready for use one year from yesterday when the first ground was broken.  The congregation, following morning worship in their own church and a Construction Day dinner in the dining room of the Christian church, assembled at the new church site within a roped-off section where the sanctuary will be.

Dr. Ronald C. Wells, pastor, introduced Prof. George B. Hartman, chairman of the advisory board, Mayor W.L. Allan, Dr. Charles E. Friley, president of Iowa State college, Dr. Milton Froyd, representing the Northern Baptist convention and Dr. Walter Halbert, executive secretary of the Iowa Baptist convention.  Each commented briefly on the project and its ultimate value to the community.

Prof. George B. Hartman, chairman of the advisory board, digs the first shovel of dirt at ground-
breaking ceremonies for the new church First Baptists will build at 200 Lynn avenue.  Dr. Ronald V. Wells, pastor, looks on.

"Life is determined by the number of desires we have," he began, adding that the more mature and more civilized man becomes the more of these desires for material wants he seems to acquire.  If an individual wants to know if he has grown in his Christian faith, he can ask himself, "As a Christian do I want more, expect more?  Or have I become shriveled?  He stressed that not only quantity but quality must be considered.  Froyd declared that in the face of all our multiple wants we must find expression for our central desire that gives unity and purpose to them all--God!

"We decided to keep on raising money since we were having such luck," Hartman recalled, although at that time it was not even hoped anything besides a student center could be built.  By the summer of 1944 pledges in the amount of $25,000 had been made, all of which were paid by this year.  New pledges totaling $35,000 have been made and will, it has been promised, be paid in two and one-half years.

That amount added to the $80,000 the church has from initial pledges and the Northern Baptist convention and the state convention will bring the total to something like $115,000.  And it is hoped that about $50,000 will be obtained from Baptist ISC alumni who will now be contacted and given the opportunity to make gifts.

Dr. Wells paid tribute to Rev. J. Harold Gamble, his predecessor, to whom he gave much credit for getting the movement started.  Many other persons have helped consistently through the campaign thus far.  Among them are Prof. A.A. Benedict, who has now moved from here, Prof.  Fred McLain, now of Denfer; Frank Berry, Prof. L.W. Butler, Sabin Nichols, R.W. Ahlquist, Wilfred Marston and L. Lewis.

Guests at the dinner included Mayor and Mrs. Allan, Mr. and Mrs. Ray Cunningham, Mr. and Mrs. H.A. Phillips of Mason City, Mr. and Mrs. Bill Stewart of Pella, Mr. and Mrs. B.W. Merriam of Fairfield and Mr. and Mrs. William H. Dreier.  Men of the congregation prepared the dinner under the supervision of Lew Amme.

FIRST BAPTIST CONGREGATION TO HAVE SERVICES IN NEW CHURCH SUNDAY MORN - Members and friends of the First Baptist church of Ames will worship for the first time in Fellowship hall of the new building at 200 Lynn Christmas Sunday morning.

Services have been discontinued in Great Hall of Memorial Union. From now until sometime in March the congregation will worship in the large and attractive Fellowship hall. It is expected that the sanctuary will be finished in time for Easter services. The dedication services are planned for sometime in May.  Church school will continue in the temporary Roger Williams house 128 Lynn, through Jan 18. After that date all activities will be centered in the new church.

Beginning Jan 1, all Roger Williams club and student center activities will be held in Fellowship hall.

Dr. Ronald Wells pastor of the church will bring a special Christmas message entitled “Christmas in Kairos” for the first Sunday. Inn James Thomson and Sons of Ames has had the general contract for erection of the building with sub-contracts let to Palmer Crosley Painting firms all of Ames. D. D. Merrill of New York City drew the general plans for which Thomas Fitzpatrick, head of the architecture and architectural engineering department of Iowa State college, serving as supervising architect.