Come and Worship With Us!
Union Baptist Church
The Union Baptist Church was organized in 1867. They assembled to worship in the Cross Lane school house, perhaps at the site of Roads, MO. The church building was erected in 1882, 1 1/2 miles south of Roads. The land on which the Union Baptist Church and cemetery now sits was purchased from two different family's, each selling the church 1 acre in late October of 1891. The framework of the present chapel building was the original structure. It was repaired with a new floor and pulpit in 1930. It was remodeled in 1955 over a full basement and dedicated in April 1956. The original pews were constructed when the church was built in 1882. The first piano used was purchased in 1922 to replace the reed organ that had served it's purpose since the beginning of the church.
Union Church has maintained worship services through the years, most of the time with preaching twice a month. We had no full-time pastor from Aug. 1951 to Feb. 1956. There was Sunday school each Sunday. The W.M.S. (Women's Missionary Society) was organized in 1920 and has sine stopped it's ministry for reasons unknown. At one time the W.M.S. sponsored intermediate and junior girls' auxiliaries. An active B.T.U. (Baptist Training Union) flourished from 1932-1940. Most of the young people left for college or to jobs, and for the lack of leadership, the work was discontinued. Four men have been ordained as ministers from the membership of Union Church.
All records of Union Church were destroyed in the tornado of 1946. This historical report is not authentic, but as accurate as obtainable from many individuals.
In 1975 our song books were donated to us by the seminary. Ground breaking for the educational building, a 26X40 addition, over a full basement, started April 12, 1980. The building was completed and debt free within the year and the fellowship facilities were first used in April 1981. Stained glass windows were placed in the Chapel and in the front of the church in 1990, with new pews purchased approx. 1994. Our current pew Bibles were purchased in 2006. June 2009 we elected to put a new tin roof on the whole of the church, which should begin in July 2009.
Currently we have Church services every Sunday at 9:45, which includes children's church. The services are followed by Sunday School at 10:45. Since 1972 we have had a very successful Easter Sunrise Service. We also have an annual banquet to show our appreciation of the Stet fire department. Sunday School Kickoff if also celebrated annually.
--This account was taken from Carroll County Baptist Association Centennial Tour pamphlet written in 1960, and added to by some of our long-standing members.
Many of the additions to the building, grounds, and programs have been donated from caring and dedicated members, past and present. Union Baptist Church has been blessed to minister to the very young through senior members with these additions and programs. All of this being done to serve God and tell the Good News of Jesus Christ.