First Baptist of California celebrates first 175 years

CALIFORNIA — “Will you be a dead rock or a living stone?” Derald Harris challenged members and guests at a celebration on Sept. 6 marking the 175th anniversary of First Baptist Church, California.

The director of communications for the Missouri Baptist Children’s Home spent his childhood and teen years as part of the First Baptist congregation, joining with his family in the mid-1950s.

The stories of people as church and community mem­bers, not the chronology of facility growth or the parade of pastors and staff, reflect a congregation’s his­tory, he emphasized.

Noting that First Baptist is a strong Cooperative Pro­gram supporter, Harris noted, “This is a very significant day…in the life of this church…. You have a ministry to the community, to the association, to the state, to the country and all over the world…. For 175 years you have been impacting the world.”

He reminded listeners that God wants his people to remember. God directed the Israelites to pick up 12 stones as they crossed the Jordan River at the end of their sojourn in the wilderness and to erect a monument of remembrance.