On July 8, 1908, eleven devoted Christians gathered with area missionary R. E. Bell in the Petersburg school house. Though small in number, this group gave birth to Petersburg Baptist Church and later called G. I. Britton of Plainview as their first pastor. The first church building was constructed in 1911 and the first parsonage was dedicated in 1920. Along with the rest of the country, the church faced significant financial problems throughout the 1930’s, yet membership experienced some growth. The need for additional space led the men of the church to construct a new stone building which was dedicated in April 1942. Sadly, this building, along with most of the church records, was completely destroyed by fire forty days after dedication. With the aid of $5,000 in insurance, a new brick building was constructed on the same foundation and dedicated in February 1943. This building currently houses the nursery and a number of Sunday School classrooms. A new parsonage was built near the new church in 1949. During the early 1950’s, the members assisted in the construction of church buildings for both African-American and Hispanic congregations in Petersburg and established a new church in Arizona. Meanwhile, membership continued to grow and a new sanctuary was built in 1955.
Russell Pogue came to serve as pastor in the summer of 1959, and a year and a half later the church debt was paid off. Under his leadership, the church purchased the reaminder of the block surrounding the church, hired the first full-time music and educational director, Roy Edwards, and helped start a church in Fort Benton, Montana. Rev. Pogue resigned in 1970 and Jesse Nave became the church's 18th pastor and served until 1979.
Waymon Swopes followed Jesse Nave as pastor and fueled the church's interest in missions through his frequent to places such as Canada and the Yucatan in Mexico. This emphasis continued with Ronnie Travis who became pastor in 1988. Ronnie was especially interested in mission work among the Navajo Indians in New Mexico. It was also under Ronnie's leadership that the church remodeled the sanctuary and made other improvements to the building.
In 1996, John Lowrie became the 21st pastor of First Baptist Church and served until 2001. He was one of the youngest pastors the church had had and was well-liked by everyone in the community. A year later Tom Griffin came to fill the pulpit as pastor. He led the church to begin a care package ministry to those from our area who served in the military. Tom resigned in March 2007 and was followed that November by our current pastor, Don Raney.
