Our church was organized on October 23, 1904 as the Carterville Freewill Baptist Church. The fifty original members founded it as an alternative to the closed fellowship of the Southern Baptist Convention.
The original building and parsonage were located on the southwest corner of West Idaho and Locust Streets. Here,the church prospered under the guidance of several pastors, the first being Rev. Edna Wells who served from 1905-1908, and again from 1909-1911.
Sometime during 1914, the church body severed ties with the Free Will Baptist Denomination and the church assumed the name of Carterville Second Baptist Church.
In the spring of 1915, a fire destroyed the church and parsonage. The decision was to rebuild, and the present location at 116 West Grand Avenue was purchased as the building site. A frame building with a full basement wasconstructed at the corner of West Grand and Oak Streets in 1915. After construction, the name was changed to Grand Avenue Baptist Church.
Over the next several years, Grand Avenue Baptist grew, added new members and was led by different pastors. At this time, the church was affiliated with the Northern Baptist Convention.
In the mid-forties, several members from Grand Avenue and the Cambria First Baptist left their congregations because of disagreements with the Northern Baptist Convention, and formed a new church south of Carterville. Grand Avenue remained faithful in serving the Lord as the Northern Baptist Convention re-established the Convention as the American Baptist Convention.
Grand Avenue then became an American Baptist Church. In 1960 a two-story brick educational building was added to the existing sanctuary.
Then, in 1971 a new brick sanctuary was built to replace the old frame structure built in 1915. The original bell from the 1915 belfry was removed and permanently mounted on a display base that sits on the church grounds to the east of the current sanctuary.
The Family Life Center was added in 1997, and is used for many church functions as well as community and private events.
An extensive remodeling of the sanctuary and entryway took place in 2010-2011. In 2012, the nursery, toddler room, and adjacent restrooms were refurbished.
We are now looking to the future as we celebrate 120 years of Grand Avenue Baptist Church in 2024.
