THE HISTORY OF A BALDWIN CITY CHURCH: NEW LIFE ASSEMBLY OF GOD

Photographs

Introduction 

1. What are the churches of Baldwin City?
   
   
2. Has work on this church's history already been done? Is there a written history of the church? If yes to either question, find out more so you don't duplicate someone else's efforts.
   
   
3. What People In This Church Know About Its History?
   Good sources of information are the current pastor, Rev. Mark Halford, and David Routh, who has been a member since before a merger that has been important in the church’s history.
   
   
4. What Written Documents Or Artifacts Are Available?
   There are few written documents because the church does not have a lengthy history. New Life Assembly’s predecessor, The First Assembly of God church, began life in Baldwin City in 1957. The pastor has an album containing pictures of church activities.
   
   
5. How Did The Church Get Started?
   The New Life Assembly of God Church is actually a combination of the New Life Christian Center (an extension of the Assembly of God church in Wellsville) and the First Assembly of God church in Baldwin City. The latter church came into existence through the efforts of Raymond and Esther Routh and their children and the Clyde and Zola Collins family and their children. The two families decided to start the church because at that time Baldwin City did not have a charismatic church for people to attend. The original congregation met without a minister, but they soon found one. The first minister was Rev. Eichelburger. Raymond Routh was also a minister at the church for a period. Later, one of the Collins children (Bill) became pastor there during the early 1980s. The church was originally located in west Baldwin City, on College Street, in the building that now houses A & H Air Conditioning and Heating. The members built a new home for the church in 1965. David Routh said that the members of the congregation did the construction, using wood from torn-down structures at Haskell Indian Nations University. The cost of was only $10,000, and the congregation was debt free.
   The organization that merged with First Assembly of God, the New Life Christian Center, was on High Street in downtown Baldwin City,. It came into being to provide ministry to Baker University students, since members of the Assembly of God church in Wellsville thought that the Baldwin City Assembly of God was not doing that job well enough. Some tension developed between the two groups. Baldwin City members thought that the Wellsville church was infringing upon their ministerial territory, and the Wellsville church felt that the Baldwin City church was not doing its part. The New Life Christian Center lasted for approximately ten years, starting in 1985.
   In 1995, Baldwin City First Assembly of God church hired Mark Halford to be pastor. Halford was unaware of the tension between the two churches and innocently went to the New Life Christian Center to introduce himself. Eventually Halford’s not having been in the area when the conflict began and his desire to unite the two congregations led to the merger of the Baldwin City First Assembly of God church and the New Life Christian Center in October, 1995, with the new name, New Life Assembly of God. After the merger of the two congregations, the church decided to build an addition onto the Fifth Street building, increasing the available space.
6. Who were the founders?
7. Why did they decide to start a church?
   
   
8. Has the church existed in other buildings than the present one? What were they?
   
   
9. How have major historical events affected the church? Examples: "Bleeding Kansas," the Civil War-World War I-World War II-Korean conflict-Vietnam War, economic crises (like the Great Depression), changes in agriculture, the civil rights movement.
   
   
10. What people have been influential in the life of the church over time? (other than the founders). These people might include a particularly beloved pastor (or a particularly unpopular one) or a lay leader.
    
    
11. What controversies has the church experienced?
    
    
12. What gives the church its particular identity or flavor? What makes it different from other Baldwin City churches or from other churches in its denomination?
    
    
13. What Is The Mission / Purpose Of The Church?
    Mark Halford sums up the mission of the church as “the three E’s.” The first “E” stands for exaltation. The New Life Assembly of God church wants to provide a place for God to be exalted. The second “E” stands for edification, providing an environment for building up people’s faith and knowledge of Jesus. The third “E” stands for evangelism, sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the local community and reaching out to the world through missions and missionaries. Carrying out this mission means many things, according to Halford. One thing that all good churches have in common is a strong interest in the welfare of their community.
    
    
14. How Has The Church Ministered To The Baldwin City Community?
    Most churches minister to their community in some way or another, usually focusing on the people most in need of help. The New Life Assembly of God is not different. The members minister to the people of Baldwin City, for instance, through Teen Challenge. This nation-wide program provides spiritual growth and ministry to young boys or girls involved with drugs, alcohol, gangs, and other forms of delinquency. The program lasts fourteen months. It provides counseling and attempts to fill the void in the boys’ lives with Christ, as opposed to drugs or alcohol, without condemning the boys’ previous behavior. Many boys do not make it through the strict program. In the Baldwin City branch of the program, Pastor Halford and volunteers teach the boys a strong religious curriculum during the day. In the evenings some of the boys work in the local thrift store, with the proceeds going to Teen Challenge. The rules are strict, and in particular the boys cannot have any kind of drugs or alcohol. The Baldwin City program handles up to seven boys at a time (Teen Challenge is divided by gender). The boys stay in a house monitored by employees of the program. Their activities include cleaning the church, eating at the church, and attending services if they want to. Members of the church help the boys with the activities and homework. The program includes a school, and Pastor Halford helps teach some of the classes. The boys stay in Baldwin City for four months and then, if the staff thinks they are ready, move to a facility in Cape Girardeau for ten months. At the end of the ten months, they are eligible to graduate from the program.
    
    The church also maintains a food pantry that is open to anyone in the community. Members of the church donate the goods and stock the shelves. Members also visit the town nursing home and retirement community once a month, and the church alo sponsors a youth group.
    
    
15. What contact or involvement has this church had with other churches in Baldwin City?
    
    
16. Is the church connected to a judicatory body? (annual conference, archdiocese, etc.) If so, what kind of relations has the church had with its judicatory body?
    
    
17. What is the church's polity (how does it govern itself, how do decisions get made)? Are decisions up to the congregation only? Are others involved?
    
    
18. What was the toughest thing the church ever went through?
    
    The toughest and indeed only challenge for the church occurred shortly after the merger. A problem arose over how to conduct the worship service. The members from the First Assembly of God were older and had a traditional view of worship. They wanted the service to be simple, and they preferred familiar hymns. People of the New Life Christian Center were younger and preferred innovative worship, for instance using contemporary music. David Routh said that it very difficult to reach a solution that everyone could agree upon. The members, however, were able to put aside their differences and reach an acceptable arrangement. He is proud that the congregation worked through these rough times at the beginning of the new church’s life.
    
    
19. What Are Some Of The Church's Successes?
    The church’s main success is its ministry to the community, especially the Teen Challenge program.

Student Researchers’ Comments.

Based upon our experience of attending a church service and our interaction with the pastor and members of the congregation at New Life Assembly of God, we noticed several things. We noticed that the people there were very friendly and reached out to make us feel welcome. We noticed at the church service that the members participated in Pastor Halford’s sermon by shouting “Amen” and “Preach on.” Pastor Halford is very emotional and enthusiastic while giving a sermon. At times he will shout or stomp to keep the people focused on his message. Most members at this church follow along with the sermon in their own Bibles. The songs are contemporary. People clap, tap their feet, and wave their hands. This church is successful because of the members’ enthusiasm.

Works Cited

Halford, Mark. Personal interview. 25 February 2003.

Routh, David. Personal interview. 14 March 2003.