The original First Baptist Church of El Dorado was organized April 30, 1871, in a stone, one-room school house by seven fervent individuals that recognized the need for a Baptist missionary presence in the El dorado area.  For several years the membership met in the schoolhouse, later moving to the courthouse building and with an increase in membership finally raising funds to construct their own church building.

    The founding fathers of this organization were plagued with many obstacles over the life of this church.  The original building burned in 1908, but undaunted the small congregation decided to rebuild on the same location.  Due to the oil boom in Butler County the church grew rapidly and decided to build a new and much larger facility on the present location in 1923.  Just as rapidly as the boom came, it began to dissolve, leaving many people out of work and causing the actual financing and completion of the building to span nearly 40 years.  Through these difficult years many individuals gave sacrificially to keep from losing the facility.  They mortgaged their farms and homes, singed of their monthly paychecks and performed much of the actual construction work themselves.

   A turning point in the life of this church came in 1945 with a burning of the mortgage.  With the major financial problems behind them, they looked to the needs of the community and decided to establish a missionary church and Sunday School program to accommodate the requirements of the rapidly growing southwest part of town.  It is now known as the Park Avenue Baptist Church.  They also provided a core group of individuals and financial support to help the establishment of the Prospect Baptist Church.    

   The congregation has also focused on foreign missions by sponsoring several foreign students' education at Central Seminary.  Later financial support was sent to foreign mission projects where individuals could be trained in their own countries more reasonably and with greater likelihood of serving their local constituents.  This church continues to be a leader in the financial support of foreign missions as well as sending many members over the years to perform specific missionary tasks.    

   Under home missions, the church built an educational wing, purchased the city auditorium, and constructed a Christian Life Center to accommodate the increased numbers.  The mortgage for the Christian Life Center was burned September 8, 2001.  The church, as a missionary project, also established and maintains one of the largest Christian Day Care Centers in the state.   

   Why not give us a call, or better yet, visit us this Sunday! 

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