The Southridge Baptist Church began as a mission of the Calvary Baptist Church, 1436 Hough Avenue, Jefferson City, Missouri. The Calvary Church voted in July of 1979 to establish a chapel and the first meeting was held on Sunday, January 13, 1980 at the Lester B. Rickman Christian Conference Center on Highway 54 South.
The Chapel began with 110 enrolled in Bible Study. Along with fifty-four members of the Calvary Church, there were twenty new additions to the new work membership in the first month.
During the six years of our church's ministry the following significant events have served to help our church move forward in its ministry:
1. On October 1, 1980 earnest money was put down on 16.7 acres of land on Vieth Drive. December 10, 1980 Southridge Baptist Church was chosen as the permanent name. During this time the Interim Pastors were Clyde Leonard and Verlyn Bergen.
2. On March 8, 1981 Calvary Chapel was constituted as the Southridge Baptist Church. On September 14, 1981 Southridge Baptist Church was admitted to the Concord Baptist Association. November 1, 1981 a Ground-Breaking Service was held for the construction of the first unit of our Worship and Education Building.
3. Additional Interim Pastors were Gil Brink and Don Anders.
4. Randy Schmidt began as first pastor of Southridge on January 10, 1982.
5. The first bonds for new building went on sale on March 1, 1982. September 10, 1982 the first worship service was held in new building.
6. During 1983 the Bible Study enrollment reached 234. The Church membership increased by 36.
7. April, 1984 Pastor Randy Schmidt resigned to prepare for Foreign Mission Service in Argentina. A Pastor Search Committee is selected. On December 31 the last payment was made on the church property. The new Interim Pastor was Verlyn Bergen who remained a member of Southridge.
8. 1985 found Rev. C.D. Butler serving as our Interim Pastor during the first half of the year.
On May 19, 1985 Rev. James W. Shaver, his wife Jackie and son, Wes, were introduced to Southridge and Bro. Shaver preached his first sermon in view of a call. He began his ministry at Southridge Sunday, July 7, 1985. In the latter months of 1985 our new pastor lead the church to consider and adopt a list of priorities for the completion of our new church building. Bible Study enrollment had reached 199 with an average attendance of 99.
1986, the first full year of Pastor Shaver's ministry brought several new and exciting experiences to the Southridge fellowship. The "Focus on the Family" film series was presented. Of great significance was our participation in the PACT study led by Webster Brown as consultant. Out of this study was established a Long Range Planning Committee, chaired by John Jones. The purpose of this committee was to help the church family identify organizational structure needs, church ministry priorities and build a new enthusiasm for "doing church" more efficiently and effectively. Out of this concentrated study involving hundreds of man-hours of time and effort came the formation of a new Youth Council and the adoption changes recommended by the new Constitution and By-Laws committee.
At the beginning of 1987 Southridge entered into the expanded Church Annuity Plan for its church staff. This exciting year saw many new and challenging developments:
1. The church moved a "mountain" of dirt, thus making our church building more visible.
2. The church voted to co-sponsor with the Sinh Vong family the immigration of the brother of Mrs. Vong and his family.
3. Chris Sankpill was called as Minister of Music.
4. The Long-Range Plan Committee selected three new task force chairpersons:
Children, Candy Gerrels; Capital Improvements,
Gary Ronimous; and Ministry & Missions, and Wanda McPheron.
5. A new organ was purchased by special arrangement with the Wilbur Kirchner family.
6. The church entered into the computer age with the purchase of appropriate software.
7. The three task force groups presented challenging goals for children activities, capitol improvements and youth activities.
8. A Youth Mission Trip plan to Davenport, Iowa was adopted.
In 1984 progress and activity continued to expand as the Long-Range Planning Committee assisted the church to re-structure its debt and make plans for further enlargement of its physical facilities. Ms. June Pearse was approved by the church for full-time ministry and recommendation to Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.
Under the guidance of the Long-Range Planning Committee and the various task force groups the following new tasks and ministries were brought forth:
1. Further completion and development of our present facility.
2. Projected plans for new construction.
3. Possible expanded ministry to the aging. The church voted to become an Older Volunteer Service Bank sponsor.
4. Development of outdoor recreation areas including a softball field.
5. Expansion of the parking lot.
6. The Youth Mission trip to Davenport, Iowa became a reality and was a great success.
In terms of sheer significance and long-range effect 1989 brought two that will set the course for Southridge for the years ahead.
1. Following the Long-Range Committee task force initiative the church voted to retain the services of Gale Hill & Associates of St. Louis to develop a co-ordinated site plan for Southridge Baptist Church.
2. Of even more paramount significance the church adopted a re-organization structure that is the result of two and a half to three years of study, planning, and prayerful re-consideration of the basic structure of a New Testament Church. This re-organization structure is built upon the four functions of a church as stated in various ways in much of our Southern Baptist literature and most specifically in Howard Foshee's book, "The Broadman Church Manual".
The re-organization calls for the establishing of a church Council which will serve to co-ordinate the work of the church. The church work will be accomplished as it seeks to fulfill its purpose as expressed through four Program Councils and four Support Committees:
The Worship Council
The Proclamation & Evangelism Council
The Christian Discipleship Council
The Ministry & Missions Council
Property & Grounds Committee
Personnel & Administration Committee
Organization Administration Committee
Financial Administration Committee
New Ideas and new structures always present challenges and the people of Southridge enter into this new era with faith, hope and a spirit of unity, desiring to be all that God wants them to be as a fellowship of believers.
During the past four and a half years our Pastor and family have continually challenged and inspired the church to new and exciting accomplishments. Our Bible Study program has grown from an enrollment of less than 200 to 382. Average attendance continued to increase year by year.
Our fellowship is strong. The spirit of unity is steady. A sense of "family" pervades all that we do. We look to the future with a persistent commitment to our task of Worshiping God in spirit and in truth, proclaiming the "good news" faithfully and creatively, discipling every believer toward mature Christian living and through Ministry and Missions to help meet the needs of people in the name of Jesus.
August of 1991 Southridge had our new pews installed. In October the parking lot was paved.
In April of 1993 Rev. Ronald C. Hymer called as Pastor. He moved to Jefferson City with his wife, Kathy, and his son, Jon. In September the church voted and went to two morning worship services. The church had out grown it's Sunday School class room space and a couple of the Adult classes moved to Nick's Homestead in October. In November the church voted to build an education and multipurpose building attached to the east side of the present building.
January of 1994 Southridge voted to use the "Together We Build" program of the Baptist Sunday School Board to raise the capital to build the above mentioned education and multipurpose building. It was a six-month campaign to visit the members of Southridge to present to them the program and ask for their pledge. Many information newsletters were sent out and the six-months ended with a banquet at Ramada Inn. Approximately half the money was raised by the pledges, which would run over a three-year period. During this time we returned to just one morning worship service.
In March of 1995 the concrete for the new building was poured and the steel was erected. The building began to take shape. In May a Baptist building group from Oklahoma came to help put up the interior structure. They were followed with another group in September, who put up the sheet rock. The Southridge members worked daily to complete the new class rooms and multipurpose building. On May 5, 1996 the new Building was dedicated during a special Dedication Service.
During 1996 Todd Walker was hired as a part-time Youth Director. Todd and his wife, Angela, and daughter, Miranda, moved to Jefferson City from Mississippi.
In December Rev. Ronald C. Hymer resigned as Pastor.
March 1, 1997 Jerry Field was called as Interim Pastor. Jerry was employed by the Missouri Baptist Convention. He and his wife, Sherry, later joined Southridge as members.
On August 1, 1997 "Continue The Vision" a three-year in-house pledge went into effect. This followed the three-year pledge of "Together We Build."
On August 3, Dr. James Walker was called by Southridge to be the new Pastor. He accepted the position on
August 7. Jim and his family moved to Jefferson City on September 14 and Jim preached his first sermon as Pastor of Southridge. Jim's family includes his wife, Gina, a son, David (age 14), and a daughter, Amy (age 10).
Starting on February 15 and running through April 26, 1998 Sunday Morning Worship Service held in Activities Building. This was continued again in the Fall. A new Church sign, with area to put up messages, was installed in June of 1998. On July 17 Southridge's First Annual Community "Fun Fest" was held. This was hopefully an annual event to bring in people from the surrounding community for fun, games, food and entertainment. The Activities Building (gym) was set up with games for the young children, with prizes to choose from depending on how many points they had accumulated. Outside were volleyball, basketball throw, horseshoes, washer toss, etc. There was a dunking booth and a bounce house as well as a country band and FOOD. The event brought in around 100 guests and was proclaimed a success!
In the fall of 1998 Todd Walker resigned as part-time Youth Director. By this time the Walker family had grown with the addition of a son, Wesley, with another son, Brian Michael, due in about a month. Todd became the pastor of the Olean Baptist Church. They are due to have another child in January of 2000.
Also during the Fall of 1998 Southridge ordinated three Deacons--Gary Allen and Dennis Luebbert as new deacons and Jim Reed as a Deacon of Southridge. On October 14 a new class was established with Jim Reed as teacher. This class was break-off of Ron Hedrick's class. A New Singles Class was established with Pastor Jim Walker as teacher in November. Also, during November Southridge refinanced the church's loan.
May 2, 1999 Reuben Phelps started as part-time Music/Youth Minister and as of May 16, became the full-time Music/Youth Minister. Reuben moved to Jefferson City with his wife, Ronnie, son Benjamin (4 years old) and daughter Sarah (5 months old).
September 18 the Second Annual Fun Fest was held at Southridge. The date was moved as it was very hot in July of 1998. Not as many guests attended (around 80), but the Fun Fest still went over well, with a similar format as the 1998 one. A few additional games were added: a pie throw using Jim Reed and Pastor Jim Walker as targets; a family scavenger hunt and relay races. Music was provided by the contemporary Christian group, Alabaster Box.
Southridge continues to move to the Activities Building Spring and Fall for Sunday Morning Worship Services. There has been changes in the membership, but the number remains about the same.
