A brief history

Our story began in the spring of 1953 when a survey was taken in Quincy for the purpose of starting a Southern Baptist work. The Rev. R.G. Bryant, area missionary, met with interested persons and held a tent meeting in Baldwin Park. Calvary Baptist Church of Pittsfield, IL became the mission sponsor.
Since 1953 we have had six pastors and our current pastor has been with us since 1997. Our church has sponsored a few different church starts over the years.
We desire to honor and glorify Jesus in everything we do and if you join us on any given Sunday you will find a genuine group of people that love Jesus and each other.

Our congregation values the rich heritage of the faith as expressed in many of the great hymns of the faith and also values the contemporary expressions of devotion and adoration as found in many choruses. When you visit us you will find a wide range of age groups from all walks of life. You may come as you are and dress how you would like.

We have a vibrant children's ministry and offer a wide range of adult bible studies.

As a congregation we choose to cooperate with Southern Baptist Churches around the world and are a member church of the SBC as well as the local Baptist Association known as Bay Creek Association which is part of the Illinois Baptist Association.

Our Pastor Rev. Tom Rains
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Brother Tom is an evangelist at heart and has his own evangelistic association.

Tom was raised in a pastor's home where the Bible was believed and the love of God was lived out. As a native of St. Louis, Missouri, he attended public schools in that city and is a graduate of Central High School.

He received Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior during a revival in November of 1970. In August of 1971 he answered God's call to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Tom is a graduate of Southern Baptist College (Williams Baptist College) in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, and Southwest Baptist College (University) in Bolivar, Missouri. He went on to earn his Master of Divinity from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri. He has don additional studies at the Jerusalem Center for Biblical Studies in Jerusalem, Israel, and at the Institute of Evangelism at the Billy Graham Center of Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois.

Since 1971 Tom has conducted nearly 400 revivals, conferences, and crusades. He was one of 50 evangelists to participate in the Rio '89 Crusades. The Rio '89 Crusades was the second largest crusade ever held in Christendom and the largest such event ever held up to that time in the twentieth century.

Tom was asked to serve as a facilitator at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association's North American Conference for Itinerant Evangelist in 1994 (N.A.C.I.C. '94). He was also invited by Billy Graham to be a participant at the Amsterdam 2000 Conference for Itinerant Preaching Evangelists. He has done training not only with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, but also with the Luis Palau Evangelistic Association, among others.

He married the former Catherine Fitzsimmons of Galesburg, Illinois in 1979. They have two daughters, Amanda and Elizabeth. They also have three sons, Stephen and Adrian who are with the Lord and Andrew.