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Church History
First Baptist Church Prattville was originally organized as the Unity
Missionary Baptist Church on December 8, 1838. The church's beginning
grew out of a conflict among many Baptist churches over the issue of
missions. The closest church to Prattville was an anti-missionary, or
Primitive Baptist church. Several members who were convinced that
missions were an integral part of the church left to form their own
church where missions would be emphasized. Reverend G.W. Molett was the
first pastor, serving from 1838 - 1840.
As the city of Prattville grew, so did the church in the 1830's. In
October of 1840, Daniel Pratt deeded land on the western side of
Autauga Creek to the church. A building, approximately thirty feet by
forty-four feet, was constructed. From 1842 - 1843, A.W. Chambliss
served as pastor. Following Chambliss' departure, the church relied on
two of its members for delivery of sermons two Sundays out of every
month. In 1847, P.H. Lundy came to serve as pastor for two years and
would later return for a second period of time that lasted from 1856 -
1872. In the interim, D.R.W. McIver was called to pastor the church. In
1866, economic hardships following the Civil War drew more people to
the church. The growth in attendance continued throughout the
Reconstruction period and church membership grew from 54 to 220.
Washington Wilkes served as pastor for a brief time in 1873 when the
church also began to hold regular weekly prayer meetings every Tuesday
night. Henry Clay Taul was then called as Pastor and he served for ten
years. In the past, an annual call was issued each September for the
following year's pastor. During Taul's stint as Pastor, the call was
essentially dispensed with. So it was very difficult to find a
replacement for Taul. John J. Cloud was eventually called for a two
year pastorate. The church officially dispensed with the annual call
and in December of 1885 called L.G. Skipper for an "indefinite time".
Robert Macon Hunter succeeded him and left Prattville in 1892. J.E.
Bell was called in February of 1892 and died in 1894 while serving the
Unity Missionary Baptist Church. In the summer of 1894, Alexander
Theordore Sims was called to replace the late pastor. During his six
years as pastor at Unity, the church built a new house of worship on
the corner of Chestnut and Tichnor Streets. On June 18, 1899, the
church moved into its new building. In addition, the church realized
that to borrow the money needed to build, they needed to incorporate
themselves. The church decided that they would rename themselves
Prattville Baptist Church. The dedication of Prattville Baptist
Church's new building was followed by an 11 day revival.
On July 29, 1900, the church called Rev. A.J. Preston, and he was
followed by E.E. George. By 1907, church membership had gone from 251
to 409 and some Sunday School classes were forced to meet in homes due
to the growing rate of attendance. L.L. Gwaltney was the next preacher
at the church and left in 1910, to be followed by E.T. Smith. An annex
was built during this time to house the overflow of Sunday School
classes. Then with the start of the war, William Rigell, pastor since
1917, was only able to stay 19 months before being called into service.
Joseph Walter Avery was pastor in the late 1930's when the church
decided to broadcast its morning worship service over WCOV of
Montgomery. The one hour broadcast cost $1.50.
In 1938, the church celebrated its centennial anniversary with a 10
day revival and homecoming celebration. Carey E. Cox was called to
serve as the church's pastor in the spring of 1941 and was then
followed by H. Richard Bills. As the oldest and strongest Baptist
church in Prattville, on May 9, 1947, the church voted to rename itself
First Baptist Church of Prattville. In May of 1950, John Olin
Richardson replaced Bills as pastor. Under Richardson's guidance the
Autauga County Association was established and First Baptist Church
became a major supporter of the organization.
 The
church body continued to expand and felt the need for more room. After
much planning, the church embarked on a new building project and on
April 11, 1954, the congregation attended their first service in the
new facility. Building projects continued as Sunday School space was
desperately needed. Following the unexpected death of Richardson,
Donald Allred came to serve as interim pastor and in December of 1959,
the church called Allred as their next pastor. Jerry Helms was pastor
until 1975, and the church continued to experience phenomenal growth.
Al Finch came to serve as pastor next, and many new programs, such as
Mom's Day Out and the Kindergarten were established. In 1986, Randy
Atkinson was called as pastor and then the church called Travis Coleman
to lead the congregation. As Coleman acclimated himself to First
Baptist in 1989, Greg Steele, Minister of Music, and Keith Stephenson,
Minister to Students were able to hold the church body together as the
new leadership began to meld with the remaining strongholds. September
1993, also marked the completion of the new sanctuary that allowed the
church to return to one Sunday School and one church service for about
a year. David Suddath returned to First Baptist after working in the
mission field, to serve as Minister of Education.  For
the time this rounded out the staff, but in as the church grew and
similarly the demands grew on the staff, a new position was
established. The church decided that a minister dedicated to the adult
area of the church would be quite beneficial. In 1995, Kenneth A.
Hoomes was hired as the Minister to Adults. In 1996, Debbie Conway was
hired as full-time Director of Children's Ministries. In the summer of
1999, David Suddath resigned and Kenny Hoomes was then also given the
title of Associate Pastor and Minister to Adults. The following fall,
Keith Stephenson also resigned, leaving two vacancies on the church
staff. A year later, Ron Prevatte was called to be the Church
Administrator and Larry Jenkins was called as the new Minister to
Students. In 2001, as the new century began the preschool division was
blessed with a building all their own. The room that was desperately
needed for the growing ministries was completed and ready for
occupancy.
First Baptist Church has been blessed with great leaders and a
supportive membership. A strong foundation was laid in the 19th century
and continues into the 21st century. God's blessings have truly been
upon us. May He find us faithful in future days.
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