Church Profile
History
At a Fourth of July picnic in 1875 a small group of devout Baptists talked about holding worship services. Rev. A.W. Hilton was in attendance at the picnic and he agreed to come the following Sunday, July 11th. The meeting was held at the school in Luverne and was met with such enthusiasm that another appointment was made for July 25th. At the July 25th meeting it was proposed to organize a Baptist church. That afternoon a meeting was held and a call was extended to Rev. Hilton to become the pastor of First Baptist Church. He would divide his time between Sioux Falls and Luverne. The services were held every other week at the school. In October 1877, trustees were elected and preparations were started to make the organization a legal body. On July 25th, 1877, the First Baptist Church of Luverne, Minnesota was officially recognized. The Lord has graciously blessed our church. He has guided us through times of economic depression, national and worldwide unrest and doctrinal disagreements. We are looking forward to celebrating 150 years of His faithfulness.
Pastors Through the Years
1960 – 1968 Orval Byrd
1968 – 1975 Stanley Luginbill
1976 – 1977 David Frost
1977 – 1980 Bob Elness
1980 – 1990 Dale Phelps
1990 – 2001 Thomas Mabe
2002 – 2004 Rick Cornish
2005 – 2006 James Kang
2010 – 2016 Richard Lauger
2016 – 2025 Walt Moser
Statistics
Membership and Attendance
103 current members
115 attending average
Budget
Annual budget today is $251,589 of which $53,192.00 is for missions.
Facilities
Church upstairs includes Sanctuary, Fellowship Hall, Kitchen, Library, and Offices including for Pastor and Office Administrator. The Fellowship Hall can also convert into Sunday School Classrooms.
Church downstairs includes Sunday School Classrooms, an open area, and Offices including for Awana and Sunday School.
Outside of the church there is a large parking lot to the south and some grassy areas to the north, east, and west.
The parsonage is a 4-bedroom, 2-bathroom split level house with an office, 2-stall garage, a balcony, and a yard adjacent to farmland and a bike path.
Approximately 250-person capacity
Office Building and Staff
Pastor - See Job Description for duties.
Office Administrator - Rhonda Morris, Organizes documents, schedules, order of service, and the bulletins.
Additional work is hired out or covered by church members per the trustee board.
Organization
First Baptist Church (FBC) is a congregational-ruled church. We are loosely affiliated with Venture Church Network Midwest (Baptist). We follow a Biblical model of organization utilizing a pastor, deacons (the Biblical ‘elders’) and trustees (the Biblical ‘deacons’).
Leadership
Pastor – Responsible for the spiritual leadership and welfare of the members of the church.
Office Administrator – Responsible for handling the day-to-day tasks for the business of the church.
Deacons – Responsible for the spiritual leadership of the church.
Trustees – Responsible for maintaining the facilities of the church.
Deaconesses – Especially responsible for the spiritual care of the women & children of the church.
Committees
Evangelism/Missions Committee – Responsible for working with and supporting our missionaries.
Discipleship/Christian Education – Responsible for educating our youth as well as providing leadership for our Sunday School and Awana programs.
Worship Committee – Responsible for managing our Sunday music teams and worship leaders.
Fellowship Committee – Responsible for managing church social activities.
Programs
Awana – A Bible-centered program for youth which is held on Wednesday nights.
Men’s & Women’s Bible Studies – Multiple, non-Sunday Bible studies.
Summer Vacation Bible School – A summer, week-long program to reinforce Biblical teachings.
Many different levels of Sunday School – Several adult, young-adult, grade-school, and younger groups.
Local Missions
Alpha Center
Radio Bible Class
Shetek Baptist Camp
Union Gospel Mission
Venture Church Network
Global Missions
World Venture - Fred Young
World Venture - Will Miron
World Venture - Gary Bennett
World Venture - Heidi Lindgren
Immanuel Ag. Mission - Tim Kreutter
Campus Crusade - Dave Bottorff
Mission Aviation Fellowship -Mark Williams
Trans World Radio -Ted Siemens
Gospelink Student Support
Declaration of Faith
Scripture
We believe that the Bible is the Word and Revelation of God and is therefore our only authority in faith and practice. II Tim. 3:16, 17; II Peter 1:20-21.
Trinity
We believe in one God, eternally existing in Three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I Cor. 8:6; Matt. 28:19, 2 Cor. 13:14, 1 Pet. 1:2, Deut. 4:35,39, Eph. 4:6.
God the Father
God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all powerful (omnipotent), all knowing (omniscient), all loving, and all wise. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men. Genesis 1:1; Exodus 3:14; Psalm 19:1-3; Matt 23:9; John 4:24; John 14:6- 13; Acts 1:7; Rom 8:14-15; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 4:6; Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 11:6.
God the Son
We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ; that He is very God by Whom and for Whom all things were created. John 1:1-3; Col. 1:15,16.
We believe that Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit, was born of a virgin, and is true God and true man. Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:18-25.
We believe in the resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord, His ascension into Heaven, and His present work of intercession for us. Matt. 28:5-7; Acts 1:9; 1 Tim. 2:5, Heb. 7:25.
God the Holy Spirit
We believe in the personality and deity of the Holy Spirit, Who came on the day of Pentecost to convict of sin, to regenerate, and to indwell believers, as well as to administrate in the Church of Jesus Christ. John 14:16-17; Titus 3:5-6, John 16:7-11.
Man
We believe that man was created in the image of God to glorify God. Man sinned and thereby incurred not only physical death, but also that spiritual death which is separation from God; and that all human beings are born with a sinful nature and in the case of those reaching the age of moral responsibility, they also became sinners in thought, word, and deed. Isa 43:7, Rev 4:11, Rom. 5:12,19; Psalm 51:5; Isaiah 7:15; 2 Sam. 12:23, Gen. 2:7.
Sin
We believe in the universality of sin, and that the only cleansing from sin is the blood of Jesus Christ. Rom. 3:10,19,23; Col. 1:13-14; Heb. 9:11-15.
Salvation
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, a substitutionary sacrifice, and that all who truly believe in Him are justified on the basis of His shed blood. Isa. 53:4-7; John 3:16; I Peter 2:24.
We believe that all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, repent of their sins and receive Him as their personal Savior by faith, are born again by the Holy Spirit, and thereby become the children of God. Acts 20:21; John 1:12; Rom. 10:1-13.
Ordinances
Baptism - We believe in Water Baptism by immersion after salvation for every believer. Acts 8:36-39; Rom. 6:4-5.
Communion - We believe that the Lord’s Table should be observed in remembrance of Him as Christ commanded; that the elements represent the broken body and the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ; and that all those who have been born again are eligible to partake. Acts 2:41-42; I Cor. 11:23-28.
Missions
We believe in the great commission which our Lord gave to His Church to evangelize the world, and that this evangelization is the great mission of the Church of Jesus Christ today. Matt. 28:19,20; Acts 1:8.
We believe in the work of evangelism and missions at home and abroad, and we believe in giving our support to any missionary work that agrees with our declaration of faith. We believe that the local church has a right to designate her funds. 2 John 10; Jude 3,4; 2 Cor. 8:1-7.
Eschatology
We believe in that blessed hope: the personal, premillennial, and imminent return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. John 14:1-3; Acts 1:11; I Thess. 4:13-18, Rev. 20:1-10, 1 Thess. 5:2, Luke 12:40, Rev. 20:2.
Heaven and Hell
We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust, the everlasting bliss of the saved, and the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost. Rev. 21:10-27, Matt. 25:46, Rev. 21:8, John 5:28-29.