| TheBaptist Church |
Baptists Built First ChurchThis City 1837The exact date of the firstservices of the Baptist church in Schuyler county was never chronicledin any issue of The Times, but the ministers of that faith were early inthe field and had reached Rushville in the latter 1820’s. A division ofthe church in this early day tended to disorganize the evangelistic work,and the effects of it were felt in Schuyler county.
On October 20, 1832, a BaptistChurch of Christ, called Concord, was organized, and there were 23 Schuylercounty persons who signed the constitution and articles of faith. ElderJohn Logan was called as pastor, and he served for four years, when in1836 he was succeeded by Elder Newell. Services had been held principallyin the country up to this time, but in 1837 a place of worship was erectedin Rushville.
After a short time this buildingwas sold, and a new church was built on the Macomb road, four and one-halfmiles north of Rushville. Elder Davis served as pastor of this church from1840 to 1847, and during these years there was a great revival of interest.This revival culminated in the building of a new church in Rushville in1851, but for unexplainable reasons the church failed to thrive and thecongregation was unable to maintain their organization, and the buildingwas sold to the Rushville Union school district, and for many years servedthe primary grades.
In later years a Baptistchurch was re-organized in Rushville, and altho there is no resident pastor,Sunday school and preaching services are regularly held in the church buildinglocated on South Jackson Street.
The Rushville Times,October 7, 1948
The Rushville Timesused by permission.Copyright 1999, 2000 RobinL. W. Petersen; all rights reserved. For personal use only. Commercialuse of the information contained in these pages is strictly prohibitedwithout prior permission. If copied, this copyright must appear with theinformation.