1931-Present
Judson Memorial Baptist Church
Lansing, Michigan MI
The webpage of this congregation tells the historical highlights of Judson Memorial Baptist Church in succinct fashion.[1]
In the 1920’s a group of missionary-minded Christians started what would become Judson Memorial Baptist Church in South Lansing, Michigan. Their goals were to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all people and to demonstrate His love to the needy in practical ways.
Judson began as a Sunday school which first met in a small brick building at Everett School. On January 11, 1931, the church was officially incorporated and, in June of that year, the congregation broke ground.
Despite the intense economic hardship of the Great Depression, “penny suppers” were served by the church women to help finance a building program. During the 90+ years that have followed, the people of Judson have maintained their original mission of reaching people with the Gospel and adorning that Gospel with works of love and compassion.
The church is blessed with a great heritage. Especially important to this congregation is the missionary vision of the American Baptist Churches, as demonstrated by Adoniram and Ann Judson, two American Baptist missionaries to Burma (among the very first foreign missionaries form America). The church’s founders were inspired by the Judsons’ example and the congregation has maintained a strong history of providing financial and prayer support for American Baptist mission efforts.
The founders organized Judson Memorial Baptist Church and began its first building project in the midst of the Great Depression because no churches existed in South Lansing and the existing space for Sunday school participants was bursting at the seams. It says a lot for Judson’s commitment that over the past 85 years, the church has been served by only seven pastors.
In 2005, Judson Memorial Baptist Church called, Rev. Zachary Bartels as their minister. He has brought a deep love for traditional Christian service and worship, as well as an energetic commitment to innovation. He has focused on expository preaching, education, visitation, and efforts to welcome more visitors and new members into the congregation.
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[1] Judson Memorial Baptist Church, Lansing, MI. http://www.churchlansing.com/about/history.html