First Baptist Church of Bishop

First Baptist Church of Bishop. . , The Rev. J.B. Bruce of Kingsville and seven organizers met with forty applicants on January 29, 1911, in Moser Hall in downtown Bishop to establish a missionary Baptist church. The congregation called the Rev. B.F. Goodwin as a temporary pastor. He held two services a month for a salary of $400 per year, supplementing his income with carpentry work. , The Missionary Baptist Church of Bishop borrowed $13,000 from the Baptist Home Mission Board in 1912 for its first building as the town grew and church membership expanded rapidly. The new structure featured a stained glass window given by F.Z., Mary and A.E. Bishop in memory of their parents. , The 1916 hurricane was among several natural disasters endured by the people of Bishop and the congregants of the Baptist Church. Moser Hall, an ecumenical meeting space located on the second floor of a downtown building, was destroyed in that storm. In time the congregation outgrew its 1912 facility and dedicated a new sanctuary just west of the older site in 1949. An east wing was added in 1952 and a west wing in 1958. The structure was remodeled in 1970 and 1974, and extensively renovated in 1986 in anticipation of the congregation's Diamond Jubilee celebration. , The First Baptist Church of Bishop continues in the traditions of its founders through missions such as the Iglesia Bautista, constituted as a church in 1996; community service such as the Share Center, where clothing and Bible study are made available to area citizens; worship; and religious education.