Big Lake Baptist Church
History
Date we Began: August 1956
Date Constituted: May 1982
Sponsoring Church: FBC of Palmer
Located in Big Lake, Alaska, we are reminded every day of God's amazing power and mercy. BLBC has been serving the Mat-Su Valley for over 50 years, and we praise the Lord for how he continues to bless us.
Big Lake Homesteaders - Interest in a Baptist mission in the Big lake community was first shown by a homesteading couple, King and Erma White, in the winter of 1955. The Whites were members of FBC Palmer. In the spring of 1956, Sgt. and Mrs, Bill Hornsby, a military couple, homesteaded in the Big Lake community. They too, were members of FBC Palmer. In June 1955, deacons from FBC Palmer and there men from the Big Lake community met to study the possibility of starting a Baptist Mission. During the meeting, Lynn Wright, a homesteader, offered five acres of land for a mission site. the following week, Mr. Wright cleared a spot and made it ready for a building. A Quonset hut was purchased by the Alaska Baptist Convention and moved onto the site in November.
Vacation Bible School Thrives
In August 1956, John Dickerson (Alvilda), pastor of FBC Palmer, and summer missionaries Norman Lytle, Edith Nunn, and Coy Long conducted a VBS in two tents on the Hornsby homestead. Forty-two children were enrolled and five professions of faith were reported. Many of the parents made rededications to Christ on commencement night.
John Dickerson Goes Full Time
John Dickerson resigned the FBC Palmer to become full-time pastor of the Big Lake Mission in the fall of 1957. Brother Dickerson secured logs and supervised the construction of an attractive two-story log chapel. Gifts from the Home Mission Board and the Holloway Street Baptist Church, Durham, North Carolina, and the Poplar Springs Baptist Church, Tugaloo, Georgia, provided funds for the building costs. Brother Dickerson resigned June 15, 1958, to go to Fairbanks to start University Baptist Church. Clifford McConnell became pastor of Palmer church and provided support for the mission.
Four young men pastored the mission in the next few years. Don Smith 1958-59, was followed by three military men, Bill Church, Ed Russell, and James Simmons.
Grandview Baptist Reaches Out
The Big Lake Mission opened and closed over the years. In 1969, the Grandview Baptist Church, Anchorage, sponsored the reopening of the mission by James Akin. Three laymen from Grandview, Johnny Newton, Dyke Brandon, and Gene Bender, led the Big Lake Mission for several years. When Grandview could no longer provide leadership, the mission closed. Faith Baptist Church, Anchorage, resumed the work in October 1976 with Charles Rose as pastor.
Jerry Pinkerton becan pastor in August 1977. Since that time the church has become involved in two major building programs and has experienced continued growth in this growing community.
BLB is Constituted
Big Lake Baptist Church was constituted in May 1982. Big Lake celebrated its 35th anniversary in August 1991. A highlight of the celebration were testimonies from long-time members who shared what the church had meant in their lives. Mrs. Florra Hornsby, one of the founders, came from San Antonio, Texas, and shared about the beginning of the Big Lake Mission.
During Pastor Pinkerton's ministry, six members have surrendered for the preaching ministry. Two of those men were ordained by the church and two of them, Dawson Lindblom and Matthew Friese, are currently serving as pastors of churches in Alaska. The church has ordained three deacons during this same period.
Our Missions
Don Smith, a former Big Lake pastor, is currently serving as a foreign missionary in Dubai, United Arab Emerates. James Simmons, another former pastor, is serving with the Baptist Sunday School Board.
Taken from Celebrating our Alaska Baptist History ~ 1996