Greetings from the
Pastor
Welcome
to the web site of the First Baptist
Church of Dayton, Ohio. Located on the Great Miami River in downtown
Dayton, First Baptist has enjoyed a rich history empowered by resourceful and
unique people. This remains true today. First Baptist celebrates distinctive
Baptist faith contributions within an ecumenical, open, and welcoming setting.
What are unique Baptist contributions?
There are three which could be mentioned as being most significant. First,
Baptists introduced into the great American experiment the concept of freedom of
religious conscious, called "soul freedom." Believe it or not, Baptists were the
original radicals. Second, Baptists introduced into the great American
experiment the concept of the separation of church and state. This did not mean
that religion and culture were not to mix. Quite the opposite. It meant that
while no single state sponsored religion was to be tolerated, all religious
expression was to be welcomed in the public market place of ideas. Third,
Baptists introduced into the larger religious community the notion that baptism
in its biblical form was by immersion, following a public declaration of
individual faith. Nowadays many or most Baptist churches, including First
Baptist in Dayton, recognize all forms of baptism. Likewise, many other
Christian groups recognize the Baptist understanding of baptism, and allow
immersion as well as other forms of baptism.
The First Baptist Church of Dayton welcomes you to worship, learning,
fellowship, and mission not so much that you will yourself be spiritually
gratified or that the church itself will be numerically blessed, but because the
members of the congregation believe God so loved the world that God sends us
into the world, as God sent Jesus, so that the world can become the best
possible place in terms of justice, freedom, and redemption from human evil.
Please join us. We think you will like us.
Richard D. Bausman, Pastor
