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Submitted by Pastor Doug Wilson
KNOX CITY, Mo. – Members of the Knox City Baptist Church plan to celebrate the church’s 150th anniversary on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025.
Pastor Doug Wilson said a special service is planned, with the Rev. Mike Wilson speaking during the morning worship service that begins at 10:30 a.m. A carry-in meal will be held at noon and a time of fellowship and rededication will begin at 1 p.m. Several current and former members will bring special music or share memories of the church.
“Many of our former members have gone on to become pastors, ministers of music or leaders of various types at other churches. Because of that history, our theme will be from Paul’s letter to the Philippians where he praised them by saying ‘I have begun a good work in you,’ ” Wilson said.
The church invites everyone to join the celebration.
“This is about celebrating God and his accomplishments, not our own,” Wilson said.
Church records show that the first meeting of the Baptist Church of Jesus Christ at Knox City, was held at 11 a.m., Monday, Sept. 6, 1875, with 30 charter members listed.
At the July 1876 meeting a letter was prepared by the church, asking for fellowship in the Wyaconda Association – predecessor of the Mt. Salem-Wyaconda Southern Baptist Association.
Although the Baptist Church itself was established in 1875, the Baptists had met in the Union Church for two to three years on a rotating weekly basis along with Christian, Methodist and Presbyterian congregations. The Baptists later bought out or were given the other denominations’ interest in the building.
In 1876, the pastor was paid $66 for his year’s preaching. In the latter 1800s the usual salary for the preacher was $100 per year, usually raised by subscription.
A new building was constructed at the site of the previous early in the 1920s.
During the late 1970s, an indoor bathroom was added at the eastern portion of the church sanctuary. Window air conditioning units were used to cool the sanctuary in the 1990s, before a central air unit was installed a few years later. A ramp was built at the southeast corner of the sanctuary in the latter part of the 1990s to make the building more accessible.
Work on a new fellowship hall – attached to the west of the sanctuary – was launched in 2005 and a dedication service was held in 2007. A building fund had been established several years earlier and had more than $20,000 when work began. By the completion date, about $50,000 had been raised and spent on construction – with no debt incurred. A majority of the work was completed by volunteer labor from within the congregation, along with help from other believers and specialty workers.
Church members have often remarked that God has blessed us with the fellowship hall, which was designed with a large dining/meeting area, kitchen equipment at the east end and three classrooms on the west and north.
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