A Difficult Beginning

The year was 1952. A wave of anti-communism, known as "McCarthyism," was sweeping the country. Harry Truman turned the Presidency over to Dwight Eisenhower. Queen Elizabeth was crowned following the death of King George IV. Our country was in the midst of the Korean War. And in northwest Missouri, a tiny band of believers wanted to start a new church.

E.V. Thurman was the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Hamilton, located eight miles north of Kingston. While driving to Hamilton to lead his first service, he observed that Kingston, the Caldwell County seat, had no Baptist church. Later, when he surveyed Kingston’s church population, he found a Nazarene church, a Federated church and a very small Christian Church.

E.V. Thurman was determined to start a mission church in Kingston, but met firm resistance from the existing churches by refusal of the use of public buildings for meetings, refusal to let the Hamilton church rent houses for meetings and other blocking tactics. Finally, through the persistent prayers and efforts of Edgar Burnett and his wife MaryAnn, E.V. Thurman and his small band of faithful Baptists bought two city lots, funded by the Missouri Baptist Mission Board, in Kingston across the street from the courthouse. A missions committee was formed with Claude Williams, Joe Frazier and Edgar Burnett as members.

The first service on the site was a tent revival sponsored by the First Baptist Church of Hamilton and was led by Dr. M. M. Barnett, the State Secretary of Evangelism in Missouri. Twenty five people committed themselves to unite in building a Southern Baptist missionary church. The missions committee purchased an old school building to serve as the first structure but abandoned that idea while the members were digging the foundation.

In a business meeting on October 26, 1952, the entire sum of $900 due to the Missouri Lumber Company in Hamilton was collected from the membership and paid in full. The church was built and dedicated on December 2, 1952. The charter members are:

Rev. B. A. Sizemore
James Hill
Helen Hill
Robert Hill
Marie Hill
Cindy Hill
Charles Kennedy
Helen Kennedy
Shirley Kennedy
Ronald Kennedy
Lorene Carroll
Eugene Leabo
Goldie Leabo
Linden Gay
Bonnie Gay
Jesse Edwards
Christine Edwards
Yvonne Edwards
Larry Edwards
Arby Ewards
Ethel Hill
Cullen Burnett
Leona Burnett
Russell Hill
Edna Hill
Forrest Hill
Ruth Hill
William Crist
Phyllis Crist
Audrey Miller