Arnold History News & Photos Reflect Our City’s Past!
Family & Community Distinguish First Baptist Church of Arnold
One of the City’s Newer Churches is the Biggest
If Arnold is a buckle on the Bible Belt, the First Baptist Church of Arnold is proud to help the congregation shine with the grace of God.
“Founded in 1951, First Baptist Church is older than the City of Arnold, which incorporated in 1972,” says Senior Pastor Kenny Qualls. He assumed that position of responsibility in 2006 after two years as its associate pastor. He had previously served as a top executive, including as President, of the Missouri Baptist Convention, and in distinctive pastoral roles at other Southern Baptist churches.
“By God’s grace and our commitment to God’s word we have been on a 71-year journey to share God’s love with our neighbors and the nation all for the glory of God,” he asserts. “We want to share God’s life-changing love with people across the street and around the world.”
In his resume Pastor Qualls praises the Lord for helping to grow First Baptist into one of the largest Southern Baptist churches in the Midwest. The resume notes that Pastor Kenny, as he prefers to be called, was saved in 1981, the year he became zookeeper at Springfield, Missouri’s Dickerson Park Zoo.
Over the years Pastor Kenny attended Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State); Drury College (now Drury University); Southwest Baptist University; Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; and gained a diploma in Biblical Studies from the Seminary Extension of the Southern Baptist Convention in 2000.
The Baptist movement in America dates to 1638 when a Baptist church was founded in what is today Providence, Rhode Island, by English-born Puritan minister Roger Williams, who had been expelled by Puritans in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. A well-educated man, it was said that Williams could speak Latin, Hebrew, Greek, Dutch, and French. A firm believer in religious freedom and separation of church and state, he despised the Church of England as corrupt. The Baptist church Roger Williams founded, also known as the Old Meeting House, is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Different Baptists
First Baptist Church of Arnold claims 7,530 members. That’s about one-third of the city’s population. Yet as many as six additional, much smaller, Baptist Churches operate within the city limits; they are:
- Rockport Baptist Church, 3761 Telegraph Road;
- Arnold United Baptist Church, 1968 Lonedell Road;
- Arnold Baptist Tabernacle, 3705 Telegraph Road;
- Grace Free Will Baptist Church, 2258 Tenbrook Road;
- Mount Carmel General Baptist Church, 2049 Lonedell Road;
- Exchange Church (Starling Road Baptist Church), 2384 Starling Airport Road.
Asked how First Baptist Church of Arnold compares to those others Pastor Kenny thinks about it for a few seconds then says, “We have love for all our sister churches. We are not better; we are not worse. We are just different. One of the ways we are different is that there’s only a handful of Baptist churches in Iowa and this part of the country that have more than 2,000 people (attending) on a Sunday morning. That amount of people doesn’t make us better it just makes us different. And it sometimes gives us a different platform to try to help the community. I am grateful for all the churches that we have in Arnold and respect what they have.”
Today, approximately 11 percent of all Americans identify as Baptists. That makes Baptists the third-largest religious group in the United States, after Roman Catholics and non-denominational Protestants, according to Wikipedia.
The Southern Baptist Convention to which First Baptist of Arnold belongs is the world’s largest Baptist denomination; it is the largest Protestant and second-largest Christian denomination in the United States, according to Pew Research Center. The term “Southern” in the name refers to the fact that it originated in Augusta, Georgia in 1845, supporting the Confederacy during the Civil War.
To celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2001 First Baptist Church of Arnold produced a commemorative booklet. It begins with Proverbs 29:18 “When there is no vision the people perish” followed by a prayer statement by then-Pastor Gerald Davidson “Oh God, burn a vision into our hearts for Jesus and this church.” It then defines the local church’s history:
“During the years 1950-1951, an influx of families moved into northern Jefferson County from the St. Louis area. This created a need for a Southern Baptist Church. Recognizing a need for a Baptist church in the Arnold area, Rev. Ralph Tomex, Superintendent of Missions for Jefferson County, began his search by attending services at Mehlville Baptist Church. As a result, he found many interested people.
“On March 23, 1951, the first prayer meeting was held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Glenn Parker with eleven persons present. Prayer meetings continued until May 6, 1951, when Mr. Frank Weinstein granted a room over his place of business in Flamm City for Sunday morning services. Sunday evening and mid-week meetings were held in various homes. At the first Sunday morning service at Flamm City, 40 people were present with 25 going forward with church membership. Most came by letter from Mehlville Baptist Church.
“On May 27, 1951, this group of members, meeting at Fox School, formally constituted themselves as a New Testament Baptist Church, declaring cooperation with the Jefferson County Baptist Association, the Missouri Baptist Association, and the Southern Baptist Convention.” (The Missouri Baptist Convention is a network of about 1,800 independent Southern Baptist churches divided into eight regions and 60 Baptist associations.)
The church’s first auditorium – the so-called White House – opened in December 1953 at 2012 Missouri State Road. Since then First Baptist Church of Arnold has grown to a 24-acre campus with an education building added October 1959; new auditorium 1969; current auditorium October 1984; and Family Life Center January 1998.
Missouri State University reports: “Baptists came to Southeast Missouri in the early 1800’s, establishing the Bethel Baptist Church (Cape Girardeau County) in 1806: it is sometimes called “Old Bethel.” Bethel Baptist Church was the first non-Catholic religious organization west of the Mississippi River. How?
The Missouri Baptist Historical Commission explains: “In 1803, with the purchase of the Louisiana Territory, the ‘climate’ changed and Protestants could meet openly. In 1805, David Greene, a Baptist preacher from Kentucky, came to the area and ministered to settlers . . . Then in 1806, he organized a new church south of present day Jackson. Bethel Baptist Church was constituted on July 19, 1806, with 15 charter members. Among those charter members was Thomas Bull . . In October of that year, they voted to build a “meeting house” on Thomas Bull’s land.” Today, there are approximately 1,800 Southern Baptist churches in Missouri. Baptist or not, anybody may tour the restoration of “Old Bethel.”
Crib to College
Seemingly every aspect of human life rooted in Baptist devotion to God, Jesus Christ and ways of living defined by Baptist principles are addressed at First Baptist Church of Arnold. The church’s 81 staff members strive to serve the congregation and Arnold community with a “Crib to College approach.”
The Southern Baptist Convention to which First Baptist Church of Arnold and some other local Baptist churches belong explains its beliefs, policies and practices, including for people who are African-American or Hispanic, on its website https://www.sbc.net/about.
Major aspects of the Baptist faith are that people can achieve salvation only through ardent faith in God and Jesus Christ and that the Bible is absolutely pure. Baptists believe a person must be submerged in water, not sprinkled with drops of water, to be baptized yet only after professing their deep abiding faith in God and Jesus Christ. Most Baptists support separation between “church and state” and believe that government officials should be religious.
In Arnold, more than a few local leaders are members at First Baptist Church. Mayor Ron Counts’ annual Prayer Breakfast in 2022 was held on September 17 at the First Baptist Church of Arnold Banquet Center, sponsored by the Rotary Club.
Mayor Counts says, “I started attending the First Baptist Church of Arnold about 1956 because it was my mother’s persuasion. I was baptized two years later and have been going there ever since then. My daughter and her family, my son and his family, all go to the First Baptist Church of Arnold and we all have accepted Jesus Christ as our savior.” Mayor Counts’ daughter-in-law Stephanie Counts is an assistant in the church’s First Kids Ministry.
The city’s Ward 4 Councilman Gary Plunk joined First Baptist Church of Arnold 41 years ago. “It feeds your body, mind and soul and spiritual needs, and I have a lot of friends there,” he asserts. Many of those friendly people began attending the church as children and never left it to join another church.
Children’s Pastor Jeff Russom explains, “I have always loved working with children. Today I minister to many kids whose parents I ministered to when the parents were kids.” He assumed his role in 1994 after earning a B.A. from Missouri Baptist College and a Master of Divinity from Covenant Theological Seminary. “Ministering to hundreds of kids a year times 28 years equals a lot of kids,” he admits, smiling.
He makes it clear “We don’t force anything on any child. Parents know we are here to teach the Bible and the gospel to their children. We always work with and communicate with the parents so they can know and believe when their child has accepted Christ in their life. The greatest thrill for me is when God opens up in a child’s heart.”
One kid Pastor Russom ministered to many years ago was Ben Schisler. “He was saved as a child, brought up through the children’s ministry and the student’s ministry, became Missions Pastor on our staff and now he is on the mission field as a missionary in Germany ministering to Turkish refugees.”
Pastor Kenny adds, “First Baptist Church of Arnold began our in-country missionary commitment in 1951. Ever since our church was constituted we have had people getting on planes to other nations to spread God’s word. Today we have, or have had, strategic missionary ministries in South America, India, Europe and West Africa.”
Visit https://fbcarnold.org to learn more.
Story by Jeff Dunlap for the City of Arnold.