| During
the fall of 1983, Lakeland Baptist Church asked Min. Roosevelt
Brown to become the pastor of a new church in Lewisville,
Texas called Westside Baptist Church. Pastor Roosevelt
Brown
began working in January of 1984, searching the community
for people who were interested in helping start a church.
He held Bible studies at various homes in the community.
On March 8, 1984, the church had its first worship service.
In June of that year, the church began having Sunday School
classes for adults, youth, and children.
1986 proved to be a good year for the church.
In April, a choir was organized, in August the church had
its first Vacation Bible School and in December, the church
began planning for the future. In 1987, the church made
a commitment to win more souls for Christ by making its
presence known in the community by ministering to the needy,
giving to missions, ministering to people who presently
lived in Lewisville and providing activities for the youth
and children.
In 1988 Westside Baptist Church established
a Church Council to monitor its activities, selected
its
first two deacons, and organized the Brotherhood and Women's
Missionary Union. During t he latter part of 1988, Pastor
Roosevelt Brown and wife Tonnette relocated to California
as he became a Navy Chaplain. The church organized a
Pulpit
Committee to select a new leader. After interviewing candidates
for the Pastor's position, the Pulpit Committee made
their
selection and presented Min. Kenneth W. Blake to the church
as Interim Pastor. |
Min. Kenneth
W. Blake, voted by the membership, was ordained as pastor
of Westside Baptist Church on March 19, 1989. He and his
wife Venita have outreached to the members of the Westside
Baptist Church through spirit-filled teaching, preaching,
praying, and singing. Once ordained as pastor of Westside
Baptist Church, Pastor Blake organized a Nominating Committee
so that more deacons and trustees could be selected. The
Building Committee was organized, and we began a Fund
Raising
Program to acquire land for the construction of a new church
building. In the spring of 1990, Westside Baptist Church
acquired land, and in the fall of the same year, broke
ground for our new church facility.
The dream of moving into our own building
became a reality in February of 1991. Membership and participation
increased greatly, and in October of 1991, the Lord put
upon Pastor Blake's heart to request the church to allow
him to become a full-time Pastor of Westside. The church
received him with open arms because we all knew he was already
giving us his full-time service.
In the fall of 1994 we expanded and opened
our educational wing. This allowed us to have two Sunday
morning worship services enabling our church family to grow.
As we keep this momentum into the new milleniums, we ask
that God continue to guide and bless us with a vision.
|