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On Sunday, November 14, 1971, 26 people met in
the Combest Building on the north side of Highway 380
for the purpose of discussing the organization of a new
Baptist Church. On December 1, 1971, the decision was
made for the church to become a Southern Baptist Church.
In the following months, an interim pastor was called
and the land where the current structure stands was
purchased.
The first revival of Faith Baptist Church was
held in a tent on the north side of Highway 380 just
west of Citizens State Bank. Rev. Don Page preached and
Mr. Glenn Whitworth led the music for the meetings which
produced three professions of faith. The baptismal
services were held in Lake Lavon.
On August 20, 1972, Rev. L.B. Flanigan from
Kingfisher, Oklahoma, preached his first sermon as full
time pastor of Faith Baptist Church. There were 78
charter members of Faith Baptist Church. On October 16,
1972, the petition to make Faith a member of both the
Collin County Baptist Association and the Southern
Baptist Convention was presented to and accepted by the
87th Annual Session of the Collin County Baptist
Association.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the present
church structure took place on November 12, 1972, and on
June 30, 1973: “After a week of very hard work by the
members and by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, our
beautiful House of God is finished.... Words cannot
describe how happy we are to be in it at last” (Jean Rae
Cantrell, June 30, 1973).
On February 26, 1995, Faith Baptist Church
broke ground on a new educational building which would
house class rooms for children and youth, as well as new
nursery facilities and a preschool area. The foundation
was poured on March 22, 1995. The dedication service was
held on Sunday, June 11, 1995. Prayers were answered
that the building was completed in time for the Vacation
Bible School scheduled for June 13-16, 1995. The Faith
Family Center, a fellowship hall and activities center,
was added to the church’s facilities in the Fall of
1998. The Sanctuary was expanded at that time also.
In 1996 Faith Baptist Church adopted this
Mission Statement:
Faith Baptist seeks to be a Loving, Praying Church
that Leads the Lost to Christ Jesus, Builds Up His Body
of Believers, and Gives Glory to God in All that We Say
and Do.
(see Colossians 3:17).
In 2003, after many months of prayer, Faith
Baptist purchased a 6.3 acre plot of land behind its
current property for future expansion. Construction for
a new sanctuary began in the summer of 2005. This will
enable Faith to keep up with a quickly expanding
ministry field as Princeton has begun to grow.
Faith Baptist has grown from a Bible Study with 26
people in 1971 and 78 charter members in 1972 to an
average attendance of 150 in Sunday School and around
200 in Morning Worship and Children’s Church. We have
360 resident members in 2004. Through the years we have
witnessed the baptisms of 440 souls and have received
over 3.26 million dollars for the Lord’s work. We have
given 17 per cent of what we have received to missions.
That amounts to over 563 thousand dollars given to
mission causes, with 83 thousand of it given directly to
foreign missions through the Lottie Moon Christmas
Offering.
God has called several men to pastor or interim pastor
Faith, including Tom Rector, L.B. Flanigan and Peck
Williams in the 70’s, Pat Andrew, Bob Herod, Rocky Pope,
and Lynn Cypert in the 80’s, and Tim Timian, Errol
Bosley, and Stan Fike in the 90’s until now.
Faith Baptist has seen lives touched and changed for
eternity by the power of God through Jesus Christ our
Lord. And we know that He isn’t finished with us yet.
I thank my God every time I remember you. In all
my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy
because of your partnership in the gospel from the first
day until now, being confident of this, that he who
began a good work in you will carry it on to completion
until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:3-6)
“To God be the Glory, Great things He hath done!
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