HISTORY TIMELINE
 
Prior to 1800
1800-1839
1840-1859
1860-1879
1880-1899
1900-1919
1920-1939
1940-1959
1960-1979
1980-1999
2000-Present
Year 2004 Benchmarks
A Heritage Built Upon Hope

The history of Florida is a story of hope. Those who migrated to the Sunshine State have been diverse people who came in search of hope—hope of a new beginning; hope of better health; hope of economic opportunities; hope of religious freedom and expression; hope of self determination.

For the past 150 years, Florida Baptists have brought a different message of hope to the state they cherish—hope found in the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. It is the hope in Christ that gives meaning to all other searches of purpose. The commitment of Florida Baptists to share the Hope in Christ has not wavered for the past century and a half.

From those humble itinerant preachers who laid the foundation stones of faith and hope, Florida Baptists—God's heirs of promise—have become the one million-member Florida Baptist State Convention. The 2,800 cooperating Baptist churches and missions serve as guiding lights to their communities—founded on a heritage of faith and commitment to the cause of Jesus Christ. Those pioneer Florida Baptists laid a foundation of mission and ministry which today provides a heritage of continuing allegiance to the Kingdom's cause.

The year 2004 is the occasion for Florida Baptists to celebrate, to remember and to affirm their commitment and faithfulness as God's heirs of promise. This abbreviated chronology tells of a people called Florida Baptists who developed and expanded their heritage built upon hope.

Early Florida History - Prior to 1800

1513 - Ponce de Leon landed near St. Augustine
1565 - Pedro Menendez de Aviles founded St. Augustine—oldest city in North America
1776 - The United States is founded with the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, but Florida was still a territory under the control of the British
1784 - Black Anabaptists held meetings in St. Augustine (first Baptist meetings in Florida)

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1800-1839

1812 - Wilson Conner was the first Baptist minister who came to Florida
1814 - Triennial Convention organized to implement cooperative missionary work among Baptists
1819 - Spain ceded Florida to the United States
1821 - Pigeon Creek Baptist Church organized on January 7 as the first Baptist church in Florida (no longer in existence); the following year (July 22, 1822) received as a church member the first African slave whose name was Peter Lopers
1822 - Florida becomes a territory of the United States; William P. Duval becomes first territorial governor
1825 - Bethlehem (Campbellton) Baptist Church in Jackson County became the second Baptist church organized, but today is considered the first church because it is still functioning
1832 - Future Florida Baptist layman and church leader Richard Johnson Mays came to Florida
1832 - John Tucker was the first person ordained as a Baptist minister in the Florida territory and in 1845 was appointed by the Southern Baptist Board of Domestic Missions as the first missionary to Florida
1835 - Original Suwannee Baptist Association begun (no longer in existence)
1835-42 - Second Seminole War began seven years of conflict that resulted in the displacement of native Seminole Indians

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1840-1859

1843 - Florida Baptist Association organized at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Jefferson County, as the first association in Florida to remain in continuous operation to present day
1843 - First Sunday school started in Providence Baptist Church (Gadsden County) and the following year pastor G.G. Tripp started a Sunday school in Key West
1845 - State of Florida on March 3 approved for statehood by the 28th Congress of the United States
1845 - Southern Baptist Convention organized on May 10 in Augusta, Georgia
1847 - Alachua Baptist Association organized
1847 - West Florida Baptist Association organized
1848 - Bethlehem (Campbellton) Baptist Church organized the first woman's missionary society
1848 - The Baptist Telegraph and Florida Emigrant begun as Florida's first Baptist newspaper
1850 - Former slave and ordained minister the Rev. James Page organized the first Florida African-American congregation—Bethlehem Baptist Church at Bel Air in Leon County
1854 - Florida Baptist State Convention organized November 20, in the Clifton Mansion home of Richard Johnson Mays, in Madison County. Thirty-three years after the organization of the first church in Florida, 73 churches reported 4,031 members and 441 baptisms.
1857 - Santa Fe River Baptist Association organized
1857 - State Convention met in Thomasville, Georgia—the only time the convention has ever met outside the state

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1860-1879
1860 - First Baptist Church in Tallahassee had the largest church membership in the state with 382 members of which the majority were African American or other descent and 16 were Anglo
1861 - Florida seceded from the Union and joined the Confederacy
1861-1865 - Florida Baptist State Convention annual meeting not held during the Civil War
1867 - South Florida Baptist Association organized
1868 - Florida readmitted to the Union
1868 - Cuban and Spanish workers fled Cuba and 5,000 exiles took up residence in Key West creating a foreign mission evangelism opportunity for Florida Baptists
1869 - Greater Orlando (originally Wekiwa) Baptist Association organized
1872 - New River Baptist Association organized
1873 - Suwannee Baptist Association organized
1873 - State Convention appointed Kinsey Chambers as its first employed statewide evangelist
1876 - Peace River Baptist Association organized
1876 - Women's Missionary societies organized in Florida Baptist churches: Paran, Hickory Grove, Shiloh, Saluda, Eliam, Beulah and Peniel
1877 - St. Johns River Baptist Association organized
1879 - State Convention marked its 25th Anniversary with 324 cooperating churches (reported as 221 Anglo and 103 African-American) and 22,132 total church members (13,211 Anglo and 8,921 African-American) led by 226 ordained ministers (152 Anglo and 74 African American).
1879 - Beulah Baptist Association organized
1879 - Harmony Baptist Association organized
1879 - Jacksonville Baptist Association organized

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1880-1899

1880 - State Board of Missions organized December 12 and the Board elected W.N. Chaudoin (affectionately known as "Uncle Chad") as its corresponding secretary to give leadership to mission work; he served until 1901
1881 - Appointment of Mrs. N.A. (Ann B. Hester) Bailey, first secretary of Woman's Work, who served until her death September 26, 1886
1881 - Micanopy Woman's Missionary Society, oldest society with a continuous history, organized
1881 - Children's Mission Band at Micanopy organized
1881 - Women approved to serve as delegates to the State Convention meeting
1881 - State of Florida sold 4 million acres of land to real estate promoters, including railroad baron Henry M. Flagler, which opens the state to migration of new residents
1882 - Lake City was the site of first meeting of Florida Baptist Women's Missionary Society
1883 - Florida Baptist church membership totaled 26,047, including 16,857 African Americans and 9,190 Anglos
1883 - DeLand Academy (the forerunner of Stetson University) founded by Baptist layman Henry A. DeLand
1884 - Florida Baptist Witness established and began publishing January 1
1885 - State Convention commissioned Key West pastor W.F. Wood as missionary to Cuba to "direct, encourage and foster various missions there." He was assisted by Miss Adella Fales.
1885 - DeLand Academy changed name to DeLand University (the forerunner of Stetson University) forms fraternal relationship with the State Convention
1885 - Pasco Baptist Association organized
1885 - Marion Baptist Association organized
1886 - Louise "Lulu"Fleming, a child of a former slave, who had been born in Hibernia (Clay County), appointed as a foreign missionary to the Congo (now Zaire) by the Women's American Baptist Foreign Missionaries Society
1887 - Pensacola Bay Baptist Association organized
1888 - Woman's Missionary Union, Auxiliary to the Southern Baptist Convention, organized
1889 - Treasure Coast (originally Indian River) Baptist Association organized
1889 - DeLand University became John B. Stetson University by authorization of the Florida Legislature on May 8
1890 - Walton County (originally Graves) Baptist Association organized
1891 - Lafayette Baptist Association organized
1894 - Florida Woman's Baptist Missionary Union (WMU) organized on January 12 as an auxiliary to the State Convention
1898 - Spanish American War financially benefited Florida economy

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1900-1919

1900 - Middle Florida Baptist Association organized
1901 - Baptist layman W.S. Jennings elected as 18th Governor of Florida serving 1901 to 1905
1901 - L.D. Geiger elected corresponding secretary-treasurer of the State Board of Missions, and served until 1909
1901 - Florida's Seminole Indians are granted the rights of being U.S. citizens
1903 - Florida Baptist Historical Society organized
1904 - State Convention celebrated its 50th Anniversary with 491 cooperating churches and 26,141 church members.
1904 - Florida Baptist Orphanage opened February 1 in Arcadia
1904 - Frank J. Fowler, Florida's first Southern Baptist foreign missionary, was appointed to serve in Argentina
1906 - Florida Woman's Missionary Union made self-governing
1907 - Santa Rosa Baptist Association organized
1907 - Florida Baptists established Columbia College as state Baptist school; later closed in 1918
1908 - First State Mission Week of Prayer in Florida held
1908 - S.B. Rogers elected corresponding secretary of the State Board of Missions; served until 1926
1909 - First Royal Ambassador chapters (boys missions education) in Florida established by WMU
1909 - Miami Baptist Association organized
1911 - Mrs. A.J. Terry, Florida's first woman Southern Baptist foreign missionary appointed
1911 - Southern Baptist tithing system introduced
1911 - Tampa Bay Baptist Association organized
1911 - Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting held in Jacksonville, with 1558 messengers, the first SBC meeting to be held in Florida
1912 - First Chinese language ministry started in Florida at First Baptist Church, Jacksonville
1913 - Black Creek Baptist Association organized
1913 - First WMU statewide Baptist assembly or encampment was held at Columbia College in Lake City
1913 - Woman's Missionary Union of Cuba organized by Florida Baptist WMU secretary Mrs. H.C. Peelman
1914 - Florida Baptist statewide offices established in Jacksonville on Church Street
1914 - Seminole Baptist Association organized
1917 - Baptist preacher Sidney J. Catts, elected 22nd Governor of Florida, having previously served as pastor of First Baptist Church, DeFuniak Springs
1917 - United States declared war on Germany and entered World War I until 1918
1919 - The Florida Woman's Missionary Union celebrated its Twenty-fifth Anniversary
1919-1924 - Southern Baptist Convention Seventy-five Million (dollar) Campaign preceded the creation of the Cooperative Program in 1925

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1920-1939
1921 - Florida Baptist Orphanage name changed to Florida Baptist Children's Home
1921 - Baptist layman Cary A. Hardee elected 23rd Governor of Florida
1923 - First deaf language ministry started in Florida at First Baptist Church, Jacksonville
1923 - Okaloosa Baptist Association organized
1923 - Lake County Baptist Association organized
1924 - Holmes County Baptist Association organized
1924 - Southwest Florida Baptist Association organized
1924 - Florida Baptists purchased first statewide offices located at 216 Church Street, Jacksonville
1925 - Southern Baptists' unified giving approach—The Cooperative Program—launched
1925 - Chipola Baptist Association organized
1925 - Baptist layman John W. Martin elected 24th Governor of Florida
1926 - C.M. Brittain elected corresponding secretary-treasurer of the State Board of Missions, and served until 1941
1928 - The "Okeechobee Hurricane"struck South Florida in September becoming the nation's second deadliest hurricane with a death toll of 2,500; State Board of Missions authorized financial assistance
1929 - Panic selling on the New York Stock Exchange on October 29 started widespread economic turmoil that became America's Great Depression
1929 - State Convention celebrated its 75th Anniversary with 760 cooperating churches and 114,199 church members; 5,546 baptisms reported.
1929 - Baptist layman Doyle E. Carlton, Sr., elected 25th Governor of Florida
1932 - Orange Blossom Baptist Association organized
1933 - Suncoast (formerly Pinellas) Baptist Association organized
1933 - Fortieth Anniversary of the Florida WMU
1934 - Northwest Coast Baptist Association organized
1936 - The First Seminole Indian Baptist Church in Florida was organized on June 7
1937 - Florida Baptist Children's Home expanded ministry from orphanage to providing social work services
1938 - First state WMU summer camps for girls held
1938 - Northeast Florida Baptist Association organized
1938 - Palm-Lake Baptist Association organized

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1940-1959

1940 - First mission for Hispanics was established in Key West
1941 - C.H. Bolton elected corresponding secretary-treasurer of the State Board of Missions, and served until 1944
1941 - Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and United States entered World War II until 1945
1943 - Florida Woman's Missionary Union fundraising efforts underwrite the building of Fowler Memorial church in Mendoza, Argentina
1943 - Florida Baptist Institute (FBI) begun August 3 in Lakeland under the auspices of the South Florida Baptist Association
1944 - Homer G. Lindsay, Sr., pastor, First Baptist Church, Jacksonville, named interim executive secretary-treasurer, State Board of Missions, from July, 1944 to January, 1945
1945 - Dr. John H. Maguire elected executive secretary-treasurer of the State Board of Missions, and served until 1967
1945 - First Hispanic church established in Ybor City
1945 - Florida Baptist Institute's name changed to Baptist Bible Institute (BBI) on April 2
1947 - Florida Baptist Foundation organized on April 1
1947 - Florida Baptist Children's Home relocated to Lakeland from Arcadia and started network of foster homes
1948 - Gulf Stream Baptist Association organized
1949 - Baptist layman Fuller Warren elected 30th Governor of Florida
1950 - Shiloh Baptist Association organized
1950 - First camp for Seminole Indians organized by Florida WMU
1951 - Apalachee Baptist Association organized
1953 - Brevard Baptist Association organized
1953 - Baptist Bible Institute moved to Graceville
1953 - Baptist layman Charley E. Johns, while serving as president of the Florida Senate, became the 32nd Governor of Florida upon the untimely death of Governor Daniel McCarty
1954 - Ridge Baptist Association organized
1954 - State Convention celebrated its Centennial year with 1,038 cooperating churches and 369,294 church members; 20,196 baptisms reported; $1,404,607 given through the Cooperative Program.
1954 - Sixtieth Anniversary of the Florida Women's Missionary Union celebrated
1955 - First WMU-sponsored camps held for African-American boys and girls
1955 - Florida WMU underwrites construction of house in Immokalee for missionaries to migrant farm laborers
1955 - Big Lake Baptist Association organized
1957 - State Convention assumed ownership of Baptist Bible Institute
1957 - Florida WMU relinquished missions training of young boys (Royal Ambassadors) to the Brotherhood Department
1958 - Halifax Baptist Association organized
1958 - Taylor Baptist Association organized
1958 - Royal Palm Baptist Association organized
1958 - Florida Baptist Children's Homes began an expansion program that eventually added campuses in Miami, Tallahassee, Ft. Myers, Pensacola and Jacksonville
1958-59 - Political, economic and religious refugees—over 100,000—fleeing from the Cuban revolution escaped to Florida
1959 - New Florida Baptist Convention statewide office building occupied on Hendricks Avenue in Jacksonville
1959 - Choctaw Baptist Association organized

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1960-1979

1961 - A rocket launched from Cape Canaveral carried first American into space
1961 - Gadsden County Baptist Association organized
1962 - Lake Yale Baptist Assembly and camping ministry begun
1967 - Harold C. Bennett elected executive secretary-treasurer of the State Board of Missions, and served until 1979
1968 - Florida Keys Baptist Association organized
1968 - Florida WMU became a program department of the Florida Baptist Convention
1974 - Lois Virginia Reaves Parker is first woman to serve as president of the Florida Baptist State Convention
1974 - First Haitian congregation (Emmanuel Haitian Baptist Church, Miami) affiliated with State Convention
1977 - Manatee Southern Baptist Association organized
1977 - New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary established an ethnic branch in Miami to train Hispanic and Haitian church leadership
1978 - Florida Baptists began three year involvement in evangelistic crusades in Korea
1978 - State Convention entered into state-to-state partnership with Pennsylvania-South Jersey Baptist Convention which continued for 23 years
1979 - State Convention celebrated 125th anniversary year with 1,549 cooperating churches, 128 church-type missions; and 772,252 church members; 26,505 baptisms reported; $10,025,185 given through the Cooperative Program.
1979 - Dan C. Stringer elected executive director-treasurer of the State Board of Missions, and served until 1989

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1980-1999

1980 - A flotilla of 100,000 Cuban refugees from the Port of Mariel began arriving in Florida
1987 - State Convention entered into state-to-state missions partnership with the Dakota Southern Baptist Fellowship which continued until 1999
1987 - State Convention entered into state-to-state missions partnership with the Montana Southern Baptist Fellowship which continues through the present day
1988 - BBI changed its name on September 6, to Florida Baptist Theological College
1989 - T.G. (John) Sullivan elected and continues to serve as executive director-treasurer of the State Board of Missions
1991 - A military coup in Haiti resulted in thousands of Haitian refugees arriving in Florida
1991 - Florida Baptist Foundation was reorganized into the Florida Baptist Financial Services, Inc.
1992 - Sumter Baptist Association organized
1992 - Hurricane Andrew devastated South Florida—leaving 200,000 people homeless and causing $15 billion in damages—and mobilized Florida Baptists and Southern Baptists into a major relief effort
1993 - State Convention entered into foreign missions partnership with the Baptist Convention of Tanzania for a three-year period
1993 - State Convention entered into foreign missions partnership with the Caribbean Baptist Convention for a three-year period
1993 - Florida became first state to create an administrative division exclusively for language missions
1993 - Florida became first state to create an administrative division exclusively for African-American ministries
1994 - For 47 weeks, 22 Florida Baptist volunteers served in relief efforts in Tanzania to minister to Rwandan refugees who had fled a civil war in their homeland
1994 - Another wave of Cuban refugees entered Florida
1995 - Hurricane Opal became the state's second most costly storm, raging along the Panhandle, causing $2 billion in damages
1995 - State Convention entered into foreign missions partnerships with Baptists on the Island nation of Haiti
1995 - State Convention and Stetson University severed their fraternal relationships
1996 - Florida Baptist Historical Society was reorganized to end its status as an agency of the State Convention and assigned to operate under the auspices of the State Board of Missions
1996 - State Convention revised its governing bylaws by approving a new "Bylaw 2" which defines a cooperating local church, becoming first Southern Baptist state convention to make such a declaration
1996 - State Convention authorized entering into foreign missions partnerships with Baptists in western regions of the island nation of Cuba
1996 - State Convention recognized First Baptist Church, Orlando, for its five consecutive years of gifts to the Cooperative Program totaling over one million dollars annually—the most ever given by any Southern Baptist church
1997 - State Convention entered into foreign missions partnership with the Baptists in the France-Benelux Baptist Mission that primarily served the country of Belgium
1998 - Elroy Barber, pastor, Westside International Baptist Church, Hollywood, became the first African American elected president of the Florida Baptist State Convention

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2000-Present

2000 - Florida Baptist Theological College changed its name to The Baptist College of Florida
2000 - An energetic church-starting strategy resulted in 174 cooperating churches being started
2000 - State Convention entered into missions partnership with West Virginia Convention of Southern Baptists
2000 - State Convention extended participation in foreign missions partnerships with Baptists in the western region of Cuba
2000 - State Convention extended participation in foreign missions partnerships with Baptists in Haiti
2001 - 140 cooperating churches were added
2001 - Florida Baptist churches reported a record 36,478 baptisms being conducted
2001 - State Convention extended participation in foreign missions partnerships with Baptists in the France-Benelux Baptist Mission that primarily served the country of Belgium
2001 - A reported 54,174 Florida Baptist volunteers from 1,018 churches participated in hands-on missions activities in the State Convention's partnership states and countries
2002 - State Convention extended participation in its state-to-state missions partnership with the Montana Southern Baptist Fellowship
2002 - A continuing commitment to church starting resulted in the start of 159 cooperating churches
2002 - Florida Baptist churches reported a record 37,234 baptisms being conducted
2002 - Another 50,486 Florida Baptist volunteers from 1,080 congregations participated in the hands-on mission activities in the State Convention's partnership states and countries
2003 - An aggressive church-starting strategy resulted in 147 cooperating churches being started

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Sesquicentennial
Year 2004 Benchmarks
Florida Baptist State Convention celebrates 150th anniversary year with 2,800 cooperating churches and missions; over 1,100,000 church members; over 37,000 baptisms reported; and $35,000,000 given through the Cooperative Program.

• State Board of Missions completes 124 years of providing leadership to Florida Baptists'mission and ministry causes
• Florida Baptist Witness celebrates 120 years of publishing Baptist news
• Florida Baptist Children's Homes celebrates 100 years of child care ministry
• The Baptist College of Florida marks 61 years of providing Christian higher education
• Florida Baptist Financial Services observes 57 years since being founded as the Florida Baptist Foundation
• Florida Baptist Association (Leon, Jefferson, Franklin and Wakulla Counties) observes 161 years as the oldest Baptist association in the state in continuous operation

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January, 2004

History Timeline

Why Celebrate 150 Years

150th Anniversary Annual Meeting

"Favored Florida"—
A History Book

Resources—Local Church Promotion

Anniversary Observance
Committee

Links

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