About 1945, before there were any churches in Desert Hot Springs, a small group of Christians were meeting for worship in the community building under the leadership of a retired Methodist minister.  When it became apparent that we would develop into a Methodist Church, several Baptist people, who desired to have a Baptist Church in Desert Hot Springs, met at the Les Morgan’s home for prayer and discussion on what to do. 

It was decided that Dick and Ellen Brown would contact their Pastor, Dr. Walter Pegg at Huntington Park and Les and Ferne Morgan would contact their Pastor in Yucaipa, Rev. Anderson.  And at the same time, Francis McGhee contacted the First Baptist Church in Banning.

These ministers then contacted the Southern Baptist Convention (now ABC/PSW).  The denomination sent a representative to meet with us in Desert Hot Springs.  As a result, they agreed to sponsor us as a Mission Church.

In early 1947, we rented a house on fourth street and held Sunday School and Worship Services there while we raised the money to buy the original lots on the corner of First and Cactus Street. The Rev. Charles Wise was the founding Pastor.  With generous help from the denomination and with much donated labor the first building was erected.  It was dedicated on July17, 1947.

In 1950, with a generous donation from the Adams family and a great deal of donated labor, the Adams Youth Hall was built which houses the Sunday School rooms and church offices. About 1965, plans for the present sanctuary were drawn and donated by Mike Morgan. Under the direction of Rev. Forrest Carter, the building was completed and dedicated on April 16, 1967.  This project also was accomplished with much donated labor and sacrifice on the part of the church members. 

We had several ministers during these early years including Rev. Charles Wise, Rev. Lloyd Gibbs, Rev. Keith Bauserman, Rev. Willard Hanson, and Rev. Gordon Gilbert. All of these served from 1947 to 1958.  The following is list of the Pastors serving since that time:

Rev. Charles Harwood 9/58 to 8/63

Rev. Edward Carragher 11/63 to 12/65

Rev. Forrest Carter 1/66 to 9/75

Dr. Russell Singleton 9/75 to 5/79

Rev. Eldon Seibold 9/79 to 3/96

Rev. Carter and Dr. Singleton both retired due to health problems.  Rev. Eldon Seibold had the longest tenure of any pastor who served the church. When Rev. Seibold retired, the church was blessed to have Rev. Max Wiant as interim pastor while the church searched for another pastor. Rev. Max Wiant severed for many years; however, the details of this time period were not made available according to the church history.

However, as the church continued to move forward and after much prayer and consideration, the church board members, called Rev. Dr. Tahlib McMicheaux, to its pulpit in January 2009.  Under Rev. Dr. McMicheaux the church made tremendous strides under his leadership and continued to be a blessing to the Desert Hot Springs community.  Different ministries were added and established in the church and the church continued its relationship with the American Baptist Churches. On January 1, 2019, after much prayer and consideration, Rev. Dr. Tahlib McMicheaux, made the decision to move on in a different direction.

The church board members and the pulpit search committee were formulated immediately.  And through much prayer and divine search and consideration, several individuals were selected to be interviewed for the pastoral vacancy and each had an opportunity to preach before the FCBC congregation.  After all the candidates were interviewed and allowed to preach, the church board and pulpit committee made its final decision and presented it to the church congregation for a vote.

On May 4, 2019, the Rev. Dr. James P. Baylark, was called to First Community Baptist Church pulpit. Under his leadership, in spite of Covid-19, the church continues to move forward.

Church History

Address

First Community Baptist Church

66272 First Street, Desert Hot Springs,  CA 92240

Contact

+1 760 329-5335

ChurchAdmin@fcbc-dhs.org

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