It was decided to name the congregation First German Baptist Congregation (Church) of George, Lyon County, Iowa. There were 32 German members plus the Pastor's family of five. Baptisms were first held in the Little Rock River. All services were in German. In 1945 the first Sunday of the month was held in the English language. It was in August of 1953 that all German services were discontinued and there
would only be English services.
The first hymnals that were ordered and to be used at the services were "Voices of Faith."In June of 1893 a baptismal gown, a congregational seal, a register for the names of members, a grave register and a minute book.
In February of 1894 they realized a need of a chapel. In August of 1894 the decision was to go ahead and build. In September Brother Heinrich Dallmann came to serve. Dedication was held later that year.
In November of 1894 the first Thursday prayer meetings were started in the church instead of in homes.
In August of 2003 it was changed to Wednesday night. The Youth and Awana also meet at that time.
During Rev. Jacob J. Jordan's ministry (1903-1929) the Youth organizations were started. They were first known as CBY and later took on the name BYF, They meet on Sunday evenings. They were discontinued in 2001. Our Senior High Youth continue to meet on Sunday evening at 6:15.
In February 1895, a Women's Society was formed. It was called Frauenverien (Women's Organization"). In 1979 it took on the name Women's Missionary Union. Their last meeting was April 1987. In 1946 the young women of the church desired to have an English-speaking ministry group and name it 'The Christian Hour Circle" and continues yet today.
In 1939 it was resolved to hold two weeks of Vacation Bible School. Later it was changed to only 1 week.
Our longest serving missionary, Janet Schneiderman, retired in 1993, after forty-seven years of service in Africa.
In 1961 the Young Married Couples group was formed. In 1986, the name of the group was changed to Voyager's and the groups Silver Liners and Homebuilders were formed. In 2006 the names were changed to SunRiser's, SunShiner's and SunSetter's.
In February of 1967, a recommendation by the Study Committee was to build a new church. Ground breaking service was on Sunday, June 2, 1968. Our pastor was Rev. Kenneth Unruh. We had our first service in the new church on April 20, 1969. The Dedication was June 29, 1969.
In 1970 was the formation of the "Musical Messenger's" under the direction of Rev. Bert Itterman. They recorded several albums. In 1975 they presented their last concert.
In 1974 we hired our first Youth Pastor Phil Voss. In 1977 the church voted to build a new parsonage. On June 21, 1992 we celebrated 100 years. 1979 the AWANA (Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed) ministry began.
In 1977 our young people started the attending the Central Baptist Camp at Lansing, Iowa. In 1991 the name was changed to Village Creek Baptist Camp. Prior to this time they attended camp at Twin Pines and Crystal Lake.
On June 10 through June 28, 2005 14 youth and 3 adults went on a Mission Trip to Novo, Hamburgo RS, Brazil. They worked with a Gateway Team Chain of Love Home. In March we have 14 members going on a Mission Trip to Haiti.
The purpose of this church shall be the advancement of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. It shall seek to attain this end through the public worship of God, the preaching of the gospel, consistent Christian living by its members, personal evangelism, missionary endeavour and Christian education.
