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Downey Baptist turns 150
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · August 20, 2015
How old is Downey Baptist Church? Let us count the ways.
The church started Sept. 23, 1865, and this year will mark its 150th anniversary.
But let’s put that in perspective.
The church was founded about five months after Andrew Johnson became president on April 15, 1865. He took office because John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln at Ford’s Theater earlier that same day. It’s the same year 1865 that marked the end of the Civil War.
The church formed before President Calvin Coolidge (1872) and West Branch’s own Herbert Hoover (1874) were born.
That’s 11 years before Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, 12 years before Thomas Edison invented a working phonograph, 14 years before Edison invented the light bulb, 20 years before Karl Benz invented the first car with an internal combustion engine, and nearly four decades before Wilbur and Orville Wright flew at Kitty Hawk.
And when the church tells people about its celebration, they can use the word “sesquicentennial” on the invitations.
To mark the major milestone, the church formed a committee to dig into its history and invite anyone and everyone still alive who has ever attended or served the church, because they want more than anything to make this a reunion-style event.
“We’re expecting a lot of people,” committee member and Women’s Mission President Gail Davison of West Liberty said.
The event begins 9 a.m. Sept. 20 with a worship service for what Davison calls a “very welcoming” congregation. A congregation of people “who like the idea of a smaller church,” Gayle Van Est of West Branch interjected.
The day will include special music — Dale Thomas and the Adam’s Apple — dedication of a recently installed stained-glass window, a potluck lunch and a special speaker: Marshall Peters, executive minister of Mid American Baptist Churches.
And, Davison said, sharing memories of a very old church.
Downey Baptist Church started small and stayed small. Today, the church only has 33 members and very few children. Most are in their late 40s and up. The pastor, Bruce McNeely, is a part-time minister shared the past seven years with a Hospice located in Bettendorf. Davison’s husband, Rev. Timon Davison, a retired VA chaplain, serves as the associate minister and works with parishioners during the week.
Members of the sesquicentennial committee have addresses in West Branch and West Liberty, though some actually live in the group of houses 4 ½ miles south of West Branch known as Downey, a town with no post office nor its own government despite a population of about 200.
They said the small size of the church allows the members to build strong ties, member Debbie Joens of West Branch said. When families experience a tragedy, “we call in the calvary.”
And that’s not just how church members behave today. Two-thirds of its history ago, back when the congregation was about to turn 52 — the same year as the start of World War I — a janitor was burning trash on March 30, 1917, when the ground caught fire, which ignited and destroyed the church.
Despite the tragedy, church members gathered around the burned building and sang “The Church’s One Foundation is Christ Her Lord,” and started a building campaign.
“Within 2 months, over $2,500 was raised,” read a 2 ½ page synopsis of church history. “On Dec. 16, 1917, the new building was dedicated and was already almost out of debt.”
“Members are still very giving,” Davison said.
And, yes, that building at 2290 Baker Avenue with a West Branch address is still in use today, which means it is just a couple years away from its 100th anniversary.
The church building has undergone some changes. In December 1923, the building was wired for electricity. In 1934, the trustees purchased a new furnace. In 1938, they repaired the walls in the auditorium. (In 1940, a year before World War II began, the congregation marked its 75th year since its founding.) In 1955, running water was installed in the church and the parsonage. In 1962, another new furnace was installed. And in 1965, the year of its centennial celebration, the auditorium was remodeled, according to church history.
In the West Branch Times, a story from August 1965 noted that, despite rainy weather, some 250 people attended the 100th anniversary of the church’s formation at “The Little Brick Church on the Hill” in Downey.
“Following the service a bountiful basket dinner was served in the church basement and many acquaintances were renewed by former members and friends,” read the Times article. Former members who could not attend wrote letters which were read aloud as part of the festivities.
The celebration time starts at 9 a.m. — that’s one of the church’s strong but recent traditions, Davison said. Sundays at 9 a.m. is when they gather for worship, “even on Easter and Christmas,” she said.
Sunday school starts at 10 a.m., with adult fellowship afterward.
“And it is well-attended,” committee member Mary Ann Meder of West Branch said. Meder attended school in Downey when she was a girl and was married in the church soon after the 1965 remodel and 100th anniversary.
While the committee members like small churches, they still want to find new members and get children more involved to keep the church going.
“Newer generations tend to steer away from church,” committee member Robyn Hunter of West Branch said. “Trying to keep that crowd interested is a struggle.”
“Our youth is almost nonexistent,” Davison added.
Yet early its long history, the church turned down a request to merge with other denominations, though the exact reasons appear lost in time.
Rev. Dexter F. Smith and 13 members formed the church 150 years ago, seven of which were baptized that same day. That grew to 36 members by the end of the year. Just three years after forming, in 1868, “the church turned down a suggestion by the Quakers and Methodists that a joint meeting house be built.”
Their first church went up the next year, and the first service in it was Dec. 9, 1869, on the same location where it sits today.
“The attendance immediately picked up,” read the history.
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