There are three sharp turning points in Southern Baptists’ history with Chicago. The first is the 1957 SBC Annual Meeting held in Chicago with its subsequent “Big Cities” focus. The second is the selection of Chicago as one of 32 SEND Cities in the U.S. by the North American Mission Board (NAMB), and the church planting emphasis that followed. And, possibly, the third is a new season of ministry partnership among churches, NAMB, and IBSA as Scott Foshie explores new direction as Illinois Baptists’ Executive Director.
The SBC came to Chicago twice soon after World War Two. Feeling a greater connection to the world with small town GI’s who had seen it all before coming home, and sensing a new calling to reach out to the rest of the United States, beyond its Bible Belt buckle stronghold, the Convention ventured to the Windy City in 1950 and again in 1957.
Before that, Southern Baptists had little notable presence in Chicago. Mainline churches dominated the religious waterfront, and a few notable independent churches held the evangelical stake. Dwight Moody’s congregation emerged as a landmark in the city after the Great Fire of 1871. Moody set about building a great church in the heart of the city and Bible institute for training ministers.
Wheaton College anchored evangelicalism in the western suburbs, with Billy Graham its most famous alumnus. Wheaton students would travel to a former southside garage to hear A.W. Tozer preach on the holiness of God.
Baptists in this period were relegated to a few northern denominations: American Baptists, Swedish Baptists (now North American), Conservative Baptists (now Converge), and General Association of Regular Baptists (GARB). Southern Baptists didn’t get the memo from Moody about the strategic value of cities, and stuck to their rural roots until mid-century.
IBSA Executive Director Noel Taylor turned Illinois Baptists’ attention northward after the war. He advocated moving operations from Carbondale to a central location, with an eye toward reaching Chicago. Debates and votes on Decatur and Champaign followed, until Springfield was approved, the current IBSA building erected, and staff relocated in 1971 under the leadership of James Smith.
Uptown Baptist Church
Meanwhile, the national denomination identified the need to reach cities outside the Deep South with its Big Cities Focus. After the 1957 Convention, the Chicago Metropolitan Baptist Association (CMBA) was formed with staff largely funded by the Home Mission Board, which became NAMB in 1997.
The HMB started suburban churches in the 1960s, like invaders camped around a target. While these churches saw the City itself as a mission field and supported the association, they were often more like the southern churches that their transplanted members came from, both in song style and potluck.
By the third generation, many had lost their base because it wasn’t indigenous. Not many survived past their 50th anniversaries. After about 2000, the suburban story became one of planting, then replanting.
In the city, CMBA grew as some indigenous churches were planted and other existing congregations were persuaded to join the ranks.
Don Sharp planted Faith Tabernacle Baptist Church in 1964. As an African American, he took significant leadership roles on local, state, and national levels. Sharp continues to pastor today. Starting in 1972, Clarence Hopson built Broadview Missionary Baptist Church to its peak as the largest SBC church in metro Chicago. And Jim Queen started Uptown Baptist Church in 1976.
These are just a few of the early SBC churches that eventually totaled over 200 in the metro area. But handing leadership from one generation to the next—and keeping SBC churches in the SBC—has proven difficult.
In 2012 NAMB started the SEND Cities focus, sending church planters and resources to Chicagoland. They also defunded missionary staff positions in frontier associations nationwide, including Lake, Fox Valley, North Central, Quad Cities, and Sinnissippi Associations. The Chicago association operated on a volunteer basis for a decade afterward.
Depending on who you ask, SEND church planting has been successful in a lot of cities, but not as easy in Chicago. The planters who try and eventually return home after a few years say the soil is hard here. But some planters make it work.
Ron Gray returned to Chicago after graduating from New Orleans Seminary. He started The Connection Church in 2006. Indiana farm boy Nathan Carter graduated from Wheaton College and stayed to start Immanuel Baptist Church near the hospital and universities in 2004. Today he is also the Executive Director of Chicagoland Baptists, the local association. And Scott Nichols led his congregation to move a little west to reach the suburbs, and today Gospelife Community Church is a multi-campus church. Scott is NAMB’s SEND Cities Coordinator, and Gospelife is leading planting outside Chicagoland, with a Washington replant in central Illinois.
There are success stories.