Birth
The Freedom Baptist Church began as a mission church on January 31, 1988 in the home of Greg A. Chandler, 611 N Prospect St, in Colorado Springs. Nine people attended that first meeting. The mission church was born due to a state of doctrinal error and licentious Christian conduct in the Grace Baptist/Alpha and Omega Church. Having served eight years as the associate pastor of that church, Greg Chandler walked out of meetings with the pastor of the church, John C. Glenn, on January 27th and tendered his official resignation in a farewell message on February 1st, revealing many serious errors in the doctrine, teaching and conduct of the church and its pastor. Due to these meetings, many people left the church with some of them joining the small group already begun. Let it be known that the people who left the Alpha and Omega Church and joined the mission church did so of their own accord and were not solicited or coerced in any way by the members of the mission church. Those that left did so of their own free will, and those that joined the mission church did so the same way: freely. Those that sought to adhere to the truth of the Word of God and take a stand for Jesus Christ left the church, and the Freedom Baptist Church was born.
Formation
Services were held on following Sundays at the Rodeway Inn on East Pikes Peak Avenue. We gratefully acknowledge the help of the Faith Baptist Church and Pastor Paul Ray in sponsoring and establishing this work. The group soon outgrew the small conference room at the motel. As a meeting location was being sought, the services continued with Greg Chandler overseeing the church. Terry Tucker structured financial matters, officers were elected, business meetings were begun to form a church government, and as always the Lord was worshipped and taught. The people supported each other with prayers and encouragement, and discussions held on Wednesday night meetings in member’s homes were especially helpful at that time. An excelling building was discovered and recommended by Dick Nelson. The meeting room of the Scandaliato Office buildings, used chiefly as a square dance hall, located at 5233 East Galley Road, was reserved by a Building Use agreement and the first service was held there on Sunday, March 20, 1988. This location was sizable enough to provide for the needs of the church. After three weeks of prayer and discussion, a name was determined for the church on March 20, 1988. The families in the church proposed various names, and the choices were narrowed down to two: Redeemer Baptist Church and Freedom Baptist Church. By two-thirds vote, the name "Freedom" was chosen.
Membership
An interim membership list was established in March 1988 with the following statement: "We place into the membership of this mission church these signed names that publicly testify to being saved by grace through faith, and acknowledging that this is the church God has added them to." The first membership list included 51 names. Two more families were added in the following weeks. As the months went by there was attrition as some determined to pursue membership in other churches or moved from the area. This was a natural part of building a mission church and was graciously received by the members. The remaining members were honored as "Charter Members" of the church.
Belief
The church continued to build the foundation necessary to establish itself. In June of 1988 work was begun on the Statement of Faith. Each item was studied and discussed in Tuesday night meetings. The first items of the Statement of Faith were ready for voting in August. Succeeding meetings and votes approved all the items by November 13, 1988. Many people participated in the discussions and studies, and the church is grateful for their dedication and commitment to this important work. It is hoped that the Statement of Faith that was adopted by the church is a reasonable and concise document that the church can grow with and defend as a representation of what the Freedom Baptist Church believes about "the faith."
Administration
In September 1988 the church studied the issue of Church Leaders and then chose out from among them three men to serve as Leaders or Deacons, all done according to the example of Acts chapter Six. The role of the Church Leaders is to provide over-all direction in the church, to be a group that will resolve problems in times of conflict, and to assist the pastor in making recommendations for church ministries. The Church Leaders were ordained on September 25, 1988: Darrel Griffith, Bill Feigt and Doug Tucker were the first leaders. Bob Allen replaced Doug Tucker as a Leader in 1990, and Irv Clair replaced Bob Allen in 1992. The officers of the church have been extremely important in the formation of the church by providing financial and business management. Thirteen different people have served as church officers over the years. Their work has been valuable to the church and the pastor in providing counsel for the business affairs of the church. The church filed and received its Articles of Incorporation in 1988. It also received full certification as a non-profit religious organization with the Internal Revenue Service in the same year.
Organization
The church officially organized on January 29, 1989, with Brother David Pickel giving the charge. The church celebrated the Lord’s Supper for the first time at that service. The original Charter Members all signed the membership list, and the Freedom Baptist Church declared its organization with members. The church, concerned about Missions, sponsored two children through Compassion International beginning in April of 1989. In July 1990, after several months of prayer, the church determined to lease a full-time building. The church signed a three-year lease July 20, 1990 for the building at 627 E. Uintah. This was a major step of faith on the church’s part, requiring resources only the Lord could provide.
Ministry- 1990 to 1994
Making the most of having a full-time facility, the church added a Wednesday night service and the pastor began teaching Tuesday night Greek classes. A hymnbook fund was started and completed with 50 new hymnbooks purchased through freewill offerings. Brother Marshall Craig was the first missionary receiving our full-time support beginning in November of 1990. We also assisted him with the purchase of land for a church building in Acuna, Mexico. The Grace Brethren Church of Arvada made available 18 padded pews for $1000, and those were purchased and put into use in May 1991, provided by an anonymous giver. At that same time we were saddened by the loss of Alice Clair, so the pews were dedicated to her memory.
The church continued on in 1991, holding its first Vacation Bible School in July. The church began to work toward a building fund in 1992, beginning a faith promise effort to provide a down payment for a building. We began our support of another missionary, Brother Larry Morgan to Nigeria, in December of 1992. Sadie Pickel went home to be with the Lord in May of 1993; the church library will always be a memorial to her faithfulness. The lease was extended on the Uintah location in July of 1993. By the close of 1993 43 new members had been added (since 1990), 20 by baptism.
Merger and Restoration
In 1994 the church began discussions with the New Hope Baptist Church for a possible merger. The unanimous decision of the church in March of 1994 was to merge with the New Hope Baptist Church. From March of 1994 to May of 1995 the church continued on as part of the New Hope church. In May of 1995 the church removed itself in recognition of the fact that the merger was failing, rather than attempt to sustain the merger and see the church deteriorate. The bulk of what was the Freedom Baptist Church determined to leave and the church was started afresh. In June of 1995 the church signed a building use agreement with District Eleven for the Will Rogers Elementary School and used that as its location until December of 1998. The church updated its Statement of Faith and Constitution in light of starting anew and Bible studies were held in the homes of the Campeau’s, Feigt’s and Griffith’s. We thank these members for graciously providing their homes during this time. The church donated $1000 to Marshall Craig for the purchase of his home in 1995. In November of 1996 another missionary was added, Brother Ed Potter, missionary to the Madeira Islands. Special offerings were given to all the missionaries in December of 1996, 1997 and 1998. One of the best friends this church will ever have, Brother Irv Clair, entered into heaven’s bliss in May of 1997. Donations of food to selected needy families were made at Thanksgiving and Christmas of 1997. During the time at the school, the church made it a point to assist several needy families monetarily.
A Fresh Start
After 43 months of meeting at the school, the church determined to lease another full-time location at 312 Auburn Drive in December of 1998. The first services in the new location were held January 10, 1999. The church continued on with their regular services. One new member was added in 1999 and one in 2000. The church received Missionary Marshall Craig, Missionary Don Ross, Missionary Ed Potter, Pastor Mike Rogers and Pastor Gene Trask as special speakers. Love offerings were received for the missionaries and others. Special Sunday night discussion meetings were fruitful. The Prayer Chain Ministry provided an outlet for prayer requests in the church.
The New Millennium 2000-2008
The church continued its ministry from the new millennium until today’s present date in the same location at 312 Auburn Drive. We are currently in the 4th lease at Auburn Drive. The church continued to supported Bro. Marshall Craig, Bro. Ed Potter and Bro. Larry Morgan as missionaries. During the course of this time both Sunday night and Wednesday night services were no longer held. In April of 2007 the church changed its times of services to 9am for Sunday school and 10am for Worship. Jon, Ben and Maria Campeau were baptized in August of 2006, the first baptisms for the church since 1995. With the technical help of the Campeau’s Greg and Lisa were able to produce two CD recordings of special music for the Fourth of July 2007 and for Christmas 2007. These CD’s were distributed to many of the friends and family members of the church around the world. The church began a weblog site in August of 2006; each worship service is posted to the blog with a link to the sermon.
The current workers of the church are: Darrel Griffith, Deacon; Ron, Maria and Jon Campeau, weblog and recordings; Ruth Chandler, Sunday school teacher; Greg Chandler, pastor.
