Fremont Baptist Church, 717 North 36th Street, was organized 132 years ago. Our current building’s 100th Year anniversary of dedication, will be on Saturday, December 7, 2024, from 3 to 5 PM.
The church group first met in an American Baptist Society Chapel Train Car. Next the church services were held in some buildings in Fremont, then our first wooden building was opened on this site in 1901. The current brick building opened in 1924.
Everyone is invited to a FREE (donate a food item for Family Works) Passport Tour of the building on December 7, 2024, from 3 to 5 PM. Parts of the church building include the sub-basement where the spooky old boiler lives, stained glass memorial windows depicting two young men of the church who gave their lives in the First World War, the organ loft where the pipes live, and lots of large vintage photos to view.
There will be an opportunity for guests to put together a Hygiene Kit for homeless individuals temporarily staying at the Union Gospel Mission. Made up of a hand towel, washcloth, soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, and other essentials, wrapped up together and put in a Ziplock bag. It takes only five minutes max to assemble.
The story of the founding of Fremont Baptist Church
Mr. and Mrs. A. G. Wooster were the founders of Fremont Baptist Church. After moving to Fremont in the early 1890s, the Woosters began looking for Baptists in the area. When they found eight other local Baptists, the Woosters first arranged to meet in the Christian Church building on Latona. Then, they arranged for the chapel rail car “Evangel” to come to Fremont. Mr. Wooster was the first Sunday School Superintendent and the first Church Clerk.
Fremont Baptist Church was established on March 20, 1892, when Rev. E. G. Wheeler and a small group of faithful met in the chapel car Evangel. The chapel car was provided as a mission tool by the American Baptist Publication Society and was parked on a rail siding between Fremont Fire Station and the railroad depot on Ewing Street (North 34th Street). After the initial organization, the church met in rented storefronts and had eight pastors over the next seven years until Rev. Cairns came in 1899.
When Rev. Cairns came there were 28 Fremont Baptist church members at Fremont. Under Rev. Cairns leadership the congregation bought property and began constructing a building in March of 1900. The wooden structure was dedicated one year later on March 24, 1901. When Rev. Cairns retired at the age of 85 in 1909, the church membership had grown to 145. Over the next 15 years the church continued to grow under the leadership of Pastors Lamoreux, Reading, and Hicks.
By 1924 the congregation was bursting at the seams of the old wooden structure and it was decided that a new building was needed. More land was bought, the old wooden structure was demolished, work on a new brick structure was started. The present church structure at 717 North 36th Street was finished and dedicated in December of 1924.
The Family Works Food Bank was started in Fremont Baptist Church, originally known as the Fremont Food Bank, with church members volunteering. Every year at the Fremont Fair, Fremont Baptist Church puts up the Orange Booth as it has for decades to give out free coffee, lemonade and doggie water, with all donations going to Family Works Food Bank. Fremont Baptist Church continues today with involvement in the Fremont community as a beacon of hope.