Information Sheet

 

R         Spring Creek Baptist Church (Phelps County, Mo.).

445                  Records, 1880‑1991.

                                    Six volumes.

 

MICROFILM

RESTRICTED

 

This collection includes minutes of meetings, 1880‑1987, and membership records, 1880‑1991, of the Spring Creek Baptist Church in northern Phelps County, Missouri.  Volume 1 in­cludes records of two earlier organizations: the Corinth Baptist Church, 1880‑1891, and the Macedo­nia Baptist Church, 1881‑1883.

Spring Creek in northern Phelps County is a tributary of the Gas­conade River.  The re­cords of the congregation which ultimately became the Spring Creek Baptist Church begin on 18 December 1880.  On that date, twelve individuals met to reorganize an unnamed “former” church.  The con­gregation, guided by R. N. Gough, a missionary of the Dixon Baptist Associa­tion, adopted a consti­tution and the articles of faith of the Missionary or United Baptist creed, and chose the name Corinth Baptist Church.

On 26 February 1881, the congregation appointed a committee to meet with the Mace­donia Bap­tist Church, located near Rolla on a tributary of Spring Creek.  The purpose of the meeting was to unite the churches at Macedonia and Corinth, which was accomplished on 11 June 1881.  The com­bined congre­gation adopted the name Macedonia Baptist Church.  Unifi­cation evidently was not satisfactory, for a resolution was approved on 4 August 1883 “to rein­state us as we were be­fore the union with Mace­donia.”  The former name of Corinth Baptist Church was again taken up.  The reorgan­ized church was no more viable than the previous or­ganization, and by 1889 the congregation was considering dissolu­tion of the church.  The last recorded meeting of the Cor­inth Baptist Church occurred in April 1891.

The Spring Creek Baptist Church seems to have been organized before the Corinth church was en­tirely defunct.  Twenty‑two individuals met on 3 January 1891 to organize.  Once again, R. N. Gough presided as moderator of the organizational meeting.  The congregation voted to join the Dixon Baptist Association, and, later, the Phelps County Baptist Association.  The Spring Creek church proved more successful than its predecessors.  Although smallpox in the commu­nity caused the suspension of ser­vices from January 1901 to January 1902, and though delinquent members have been a concern at vari­ous times, the church has maintained its organization since 1891.  In 1919, members of the Camp Creek communi­ty were dismissed to form their own church, and in 1921 the Spring Creek congregation built a permanent church house on land do­nated by W. D. Ragan and James Skyles.  Members continue to meet at the same location along Spring Creek through the present day (1991).

The records of the Spring Creek Baptist Church consist of six record books.  Volume 1 con­tains minutes of business meetings and membership records, while volumes 2‑6 include minutes of meet­ings. The first volume opens with the records of the Corinth and Macedonia church­es, 18 De­cember 1881 ‑‑ April 1891.  Minutes of the Spring Creek Church in volume 1 begin on 3 January 1891 and continue through 29 May 1932.  Vol­umes 2‑6 contain minutes of business meetings from 25 March 1956 through 5 August 1987.  Business generally consists of the admittance and dismissal of mem­bers, appointments of church officials and delegates to an­nual associational meetings, dis­ciplinary hearings on charges of improper conduct by mem­bers, and financial matters.  In common with many other rural churches, Spring Creek in re­cent years has been largely concerned with acquiring pastors and maintaining mem­bership.

Nearly all of the records of membership are included in volume 1.  The earliest records date to 1880.  The rolls were updated in 1891 and 1902, and the most recent entries were made in March 1991.  There are few records of baptism and membership in volumes 5 and 6.

 

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