First Baptist Church of Marion

On the 17th day of March 1884, the Frist Baptist Church of Marion was organized with 24 members.  The Elders were J. M. Peay, J. W. Crewdson and T. C. Carter.  Their small congregation met first in its own little church home, a frame building.  They met here and grew in size and made plans for a new larger church building.   The group bought  a corner lot in 1904 behind the court house and started their dream of a new building.

The post card picture at the right, made in 1907, was made soon after the new church was dedicated on March 1, 1908.

The following description was in the Oct. 19, 1906 edition of The Crittenden Record Press.

The new building will be constructed of brick with dressed stone, and the roof will be covered with slate.  The basement will be made of brick.  All the windows will be ornamented glass of the opalescent variety.  This glass permits all the light to enter but keeps out the sunlight.  There will be three large arch windows of four sash to each window.

The tower is capped with white limestone finished in block and space style.  It adds much to the attractiveness of the house, as do the stained glass windows.

The building will be 50x68 feet and the main auditorium will be 45x45.  It will contain a pastor's study with gate, three sunday school rooms, one baptistry and two robing room.

The large Sunday school room will connect with the main auditorium with a sliding curtain.  When necessary this curtain can be raised and the auditorium will be increased by the size of the Sunday school room.  Then the seating capacity will be from 500 to 600. The pews are massive being of carved oak and placed in circle effect.

This was the First Baptist Church congregation until in the 1970's.  In 1978 the building was sold to another denomination and today this 103 year-old historical church is the home to the Ambassadors For Christ.  The building still looks much the same today.  It sits on the Court Square behind the court house.