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| Ezra 8:23, "So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was entreated of us."
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News Bulletin
> Northwest Indiana Church Viewed Among
the Top 100 Largest Churches
Northwest Indiana
Church Viewed Among the Top 100 Largest Churches
First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana, ranks
number 20 on Outreach magazine’s list
of the “Top 100 Largest Churches” in America.
Considered a megachurch for decades, First
Baptist Church is now considered a “gigachurch”
according to the magazine article. “Currently,
36 U.S. churches on the largest list draw
10,000-plus people each week, putting them in a
category we call ‘gigachurches,’” states Dr. Ed
Stetzer, director of research for Lifeway
Research.
In 2006, First Baptist Church was named to the
list of the “50 Most Influential Churches” in
America as well. The churches were recommended
by other church leaders as congregations that
represent the passion and sense of mission
mandated in the New Testament. The recommended
churches do not all share the same view of all
Biblical doctrine. Their recognition came from
other churches, and they do not view themselves
as better than other churches. Each just
considers itself as a church wanting to be
pleasing and useful to God and true to their
understanding of His mandates to them.
First Baptist Church was founded in 1887 and has
been a landmark in this area for 120 years. When
Dr. Jack Hyles came as the new pastor in 1959,
its influence grew and became nationwide by
1972.
First Baptist Church is now pastored by Dr. Jack
Schaap. Dr. Schaap became the pastor in 2001.
Under the leadership of Dr. Schaap, the church’s
influence has continued locally through its
various outreach programs to help those who are
the neediest in our community—programs for the
homeless and addicted and marriage and financial
counseling, to name a few. Its influence has
continued nationally through the three giant
conferences it hosts each year that teach and
inspire churches and Christian workers. The
church’s influence has also grown globally by
planting missionaries and mission teams around
the world. First Baptist Church has remained
faithful to its downtown location by building a
7,500-seat auditorium three years ago and has
turned a blighted area into perhaps the cleanest
and prettiest spot in Hammond. First Baptist
Church is located at 473 Sibley Street, Hammond,
Indiana.
Contact:
Dan Wolfe
523 Sibley Street
Hammond, Indiana 46320
Phone: 219-932-0711
E-mail: dwolfemedia@yahoo.com |
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