LeRoy Pennysaver & News

LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - MAY 27, 2018 200th Anniversary Celebration First Baptist Church of LeRoy June 10, 2018 The First Baptist Church, LeRoy, New York was found- ed June 25th, 1818 with twen- ty-six constituent members who met and worshipped at two lo- cal schoolhouses. The church was received into the Genesee Baptist Association (currently WEGO Association) in Sep- tember 1818 By 1823 a meet- inghouse, one of the earliest west of the Genesee River, was raised on property at 123 East Main Street, but this building was moved in 1835 by 25 yoke of oxen to Church Street facing the creek to be nearer the cen- ter of the village. In 1841 the church was incorporated as the First Baptist Society, and in 1877 it was reorganized as the First Baptist Church of LeRoy under the state’s church-trustee law. The church was first built in 1823 near what is now 123 East Main Street and the lumber for the structure was drawn from Dansville by Austin Phelps. He often started out by lantern light at 2 or 3 in the morning in or- der to complete the round trip in one day. The church was only used in mild weather because they had no heat in the building. By 1829 the church building was completed, some oil lamps added and a stove at the front from which the worshippers filled their footwarmers with live coals. The church was moved to Church Street in 1835. Wor- shippers entered a vestibule behind which was the pulpit so that latecomers had to pass the minister and face the congre- gation as they came in. There heated the room by two box stoves and stove pipes extended the whole length of the aisles, intersected with tin pails every few feet to catch drippings of Sap and creosote. If the con- gregation lifted its eyes heaven- ward it was not with piety but to avoid droppings from the stove pipes which might ruin bonnets and shawls. Between 1864-66 exten- sive repairs, rearrangement and modernization were carried out, and a 30-foot addition allowed space for a prayer room. An active group of young people formed the Baptist Social Union in 1886 with the aim of purchas- ing a pipe organ. They directed their energies to concerts, lec- tures, sleigh rides, maple sugar festivals, boating parties on the Oatka, and ice cream socials on the church lawn. A pipe organ was installed in the sanctuary in 1889. By 1902 the church building was moved for the third and last time to its present loca- tion at 5 East Main Street, and it was remodeled completely in an unattractive Victorian style with two towers, two separate front entrances, and porte-cochere on the side. The dining room and kitchen were located under the sanctuary. The church has been used by many groups over the years including The Board of Cooperative Educational Ser- vices, Genesee Community College, The Well Baby Clinic, Boy and Girl Scouts, Diet Wor- ship, Parents Without Partners, LeRoy Garden Club, Narcotic Anonymous, WIC, a Day Care Center, Genesee Council on Alcohol and Substance Abuse (GCASA) and LeRoy Christian Community Project (LCCP). 1 Church St., LeRoy, NY 14482 585.768.2201 www. l pg r aph i c s . ne t