Bevier First Baptist Church is a faith community based on our belief in God, expressed to us through His inerrant Word, the Bible. We believe in community and believe in acts of service to reach all people.
Bevier First Baptist has a long and rich history in North-Central Missouri. In 1866, Rev. Shadrach James came from Wales and saw the need to organize a Baptist Church in the area. During the years of 1868 through 1872, several Baptist families came to Bevier from Wales from a Baptist church in their home country, each carrying their letters of membership. These families joined together and became the charter members of the First Baptist Church, organized and established in 1872.
The first meetings were held in the homes of the individual families, eventually moving to a building near the No. 3 coal mine about a half mile west of the current city limits of Bevier. Not well-received in the beginning, they experienced disruptions to their prayer and services due to rocks being thrown through the windows by residents, and eventually moved back into their homes for meetings in order to avoid further incidents of that nature. Later, they purchased a lot within city limits for a building where the church still stands today.
In those early days of the church, the preaching and services were all conducted in Welsh, both morning and evening. Later, as need determined, the evening services were then conducted in English as the local residents began attending. The deacons would sit in the front row, and face the congregation when all stood to sing - sitting when singing was against tradition in these times.
Construction on the present church sanctuary began in 1904, and the first service was held in the brand new building on June 4, 1905. The cost of the new sanctuary was a staggering $5964.05, but was nearly paid in its entirety by the dedication service in September of 1905.
By 1917, the need was felt to expand and increase the available space. Initially this need was met by digging a basement under the present building, done entirely through volunteer laborfrom men within the church body. This expansion allowed for a kitchen and a large multi-purpose room for Sunday School work and social purposes. In later years, expansion continued through the purpose of two nearby homes which were used for Sunday School classes.
Under the leadership of Rv. Edwin K. Hampton, the church embarked on a building program to build an Educational Building east of the main church building which would provide the needed space for all of the Sunday School activities and other educational programs active within the church.The building was completed, again with the help of much volunteer labor, and was first occupied on January 14, 1962.
The church observed its 100th anniversary in 1972, and now celebrates the anniversary each year in June with a fellowship dinner.
In October of 1985, First Baptist Church of Bevier extended the call to Rev. Scott Dalrymple to be the new Sr. Pastor. Scott and his wife Denice moved their family into the newly-owned parsonage on November 8th, 1985, receiving a good "pounding" of food and canned goods from the ladies of the church. Brother Scott would go on to serve as Senior Pastor faithfully for over 34 years.
Maintenance and repairs continued on the church buildings on a pay-as-you-go basis, Including roof replacements as needed, thermal glass windows, and siding replacements. Three lots south of the church were purchased and turned into parking lots, a picnic area, and basketball courts.
In the span fo 2 years - 1990 and 1992 - the top of the church was twice struck by lightning, the second time creating a 3' X 8' hole in the roof and splintering the steeple, necessitating repair work.
Bevier FBC celebrated the 125th anniversary on June 7 and 8 of 1997, with visitors including 3 former pastors.
In May of 2016, the church voted to build a multi-purpose building with help from volunteers and the Missouri Baptist Builders team under the guidance of the Bevier FBC Building Committee. The building would consist of a large gymnasium style area with indoor basketball courts, a dedicated youth room with its own kitchen, a large, community kitchen with the capacity to feed hundreds, bathrooms with showers, laundry facilities, and a dedicated pastor's office. The building would serve as a community shelter in times of emergency, and would be made available to schools and other organizations within the community of Bevier as needed. Construction was completed and the building was dedicated on June 2, 2019 almost entirely debt free.
Near the end of 2019, sadly our pastor of 34 year Scott announced his retirement effective at the end of the year. Brother Scott served as the interim pastor while a search committe was formed and the search for a new leader began. In February of 2020, Pastor Rob Nessler and his family visited from Centennial, CO as canditate for the Sr. Pastor position.
That same weekend the church voted to extend the call to Pastor Rob, and he moved to Bevier into a new fully remodeled parsonage and began preaching at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic quarantine to a completely empty church building.
As the COVID-19 pandemic changed the way people interacted, worshiped, and conducted business, the church continued to do all it could to keep up with ministry amid the fear and isolation. Sunday morning services were streamed online, with sermons reaching audiences regularly in the triple digits. Soon Pastor Rob began to stream Sunday evening studies online, allowing for as much engagement as possible amid the pandemic. The church’s website www.bevierfirstbaptist.com was launched in 2000 and receives regular traffic from both members and seekers.
The church reopened for in-person services on Mother’s Day of 2020 - after 8 weeks of quarantine. Approximately 45 people met in the new multi-purpose room while maintaining 6ft social distancing and all possible sterilization procedures. Over the next 2 months, Sunday evening services resumed in-person, and Sunday mornings moved back into the sanctuary and Sunday School classes were resumed.
Following his retirement and relocation to Illinois, Pastor Scott Dalrymple was diagnosed with cancer, passing away in July of 2021. A memorial was held on July 28th at Bevier First Baptist Church with nearly 300 people present and was streamed online so as to allow as many as possible to say goodbye to their former pastor and friend.
Attendance within the church steadily grew, approaching pre-pandemic numbers again each Sunday just prior to the celebration of the Church’s 150th birthday on June 26th of 2022.
In August of 2022, Pastor Rob Nessler and his family accepted the call to a church in Ohio in order to be closer to Cincinnati Children's Hospital for their daughter Arianna. Interim pastor Rick Hall was brought in to cover the time while the search for a new pastor was underway.