First Baptist Church ABC

In the year of 1883, it was decided a Baptist church needed to be located in Sullivan. A constitution was adopted on May 27, 1883, at a meeting held at the armory hall, which was located upstairs in the building on the southwest corner of the square. Several people came forward and pledged to walk together in the Baptist articles of faith. On .June 29, 1883 a council was called by moderator Rev. W.C. Barker.

These Christian men were dedicated to having made the trip and gone to such lengths to help locate a Baptist Church in Sullivan. The mode of transportation was by horse or horse and wagon over dirt roads or perhaps gravel roads. Road oil was not used on roads until about 1920, and then only lightly to keep down the dust. The elder from Springfield probably came by train, since the Illinois Central Railroad was completed from Decatur to Mattoon in 1872.

At this time there were only 5 other churches in Sullivan. They were First Christian, Presbyterian, Methodist, Catholic and the Church of Jesus Christ founded by the Hagerman and Harshman families. Our church was first known as the Baptist Church of Christ.