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What
is known today as Wedgwood Community Church started
back in 1907 as Green Lake Baptist Church. In the
course of its more than one hundred years of
existence, our congregation has built and worshiped
in three different buildings in three different
locations under four different names.
In 1907, a small group of believers in northeast
Seattle desired to covenant together and establish a
church of its own. Under the leadership of the Rev.
Dewitt C. Ellis, fifteen charter members formed a
church body known as Green Lake Baptist Church. Its
first meeting place was a rented building called
Kidd's Hall near Green Lake Station at the corner of
5th Avenue NE and NE 72nd Street.
After a fired destroyed the building in 1921, a new
brick building was erected at 9th Ave NE and NE
75th, and the church name was changed to Calvary
Baptist. In the 1950s, when development of
Interstate 5
threatened to demolish the building, the
congregation built yet another new building, this
time in the heart of the Wedgwood district on the
corner of
30th Ave NE and NE 82nd Street,
where it stands today. The new church became
Wedgwood Baptist Church. In 1994, the church name
was changed to Wedgwood Community Church to reflect
the diverse Christian background of the Wedgwood
neighborhood.
Since 1907, more than 30 pastors and interim pastors
have shepherded our congregation. Today, the
Reverend Nancy Darnell
leads Wedgwood as its interim pastor while the
church seeks a new minister to take the pulpit.
As we
look back over our history, we see times of triumph
and times of struggle, and we realize that we have
benefited from both. As a church body, called to
serve and witness for our Lord, we cannot relive our
past, nor can we forecast the future. We must catch
the moment and work to make the future a rewarding
one for the cause of the Kingdom. If the past is a
prologue for the future, then we are equal to the
task.
The original church articles of incorporation
stated that the purpose of the church was "Formed
for the maintaining of the public worship of
Almighty God, to propagate and spread the Gospel,
and to observe the ordinances and the teachings of
Jesus Christ."
It was then -- and remains today -- our primary
goal. |
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