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Faith Baptist Church of West Liberty, Iowa collection, 1961-1985

 Collection
Identifier: MSS-Chu-IA-5

Scope and Contents

The Faith Baptist Church of West Liberty, Iowa collection spans two boxes and covers the years 1931 to 1985.

The Constitution and Articles of Incorporation folder holds the original church constitution and a revised version from 1969. It also holds the Iowa Articles of Incorporation from 1961.

The Correspondence folder contains letters to and from church personell over the church's life.

The Bulletins / Pamphlets folder holds the bulletin for the building's dedication service, several church bulletins from the 1980s, and the Women's Fellowhip and Dorcas Society calendar for 1975-1976 and 1977-1978.

The Membership folder contains index cards of church members. The Membership Correspondence and Reports folder holds letters of membership recommendations, certificates of transfer, letters of dismission, and member lists.

The Finance folder includes financial reports, budgets, treasurer's reports, and receipts and invoices.

The Pews folder holds advertisements for pew padding, invoices, and fabric samples.

The Property folder holds a plat map of the property, a soil subsurface investigation report, insurance documents, and minutes from the building committee.

The Statistics folder holds information about membership demographics, finances, attendence, and projections for growth.

The Church Closure folder holds documents from 1985 relating to the decision to close the church. These include meeting minutes, correspondence, and financial documents.

The Annual Reports date from 1974 to the church's closure in 1985.

The Membership ledger dates between 1960 and 1981 and lists church members.

The two Church Board meeting minutes ledgers date between 1974 to 1985. While mostly minutes of Board meetings, they also contain records of business meetings. The Meetings folder holds loose papers with meeting minutes recorded.

The Guest Book dates between 1979 and 1983 and records the names of visitors to the church.

Dates

  • 1961 - 1985

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open to researcher use.

Historical Note

Bethany Baptist Church of Iowa City began sponsoring prayer meetings and services in West Liberty in 1959. On April 12, 1960, Faith Baptist Church was officially organized. They rented a building downtown until a church was built in 1967 at 919 North Columbus Street. In 1985, the church closed, and the property was transferred to the Iowa Baptist Conference.

Extent

1 Cubic Feet

Language of Materials

English

Arrangement

This collection was arranged by the archivist during processing in 2023. The Membership Correspondence and Reports folder is original to the collection and maintains its donated order.

Custodial History

It is unclear when this collection was donated to the History Center.

Title
Faith Baptist Church of West Liberty, Iowa collection, 1961-1985
Author
Rebekah Bain, archivist
Date
November 2023
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the The History Center: Archives of Bethel University and Converge Repository

Contact:
3900 Bethel Drive
Arden Hills MINNESOTA 55112 United States