Death of a Church

New Orleans Baptist Church is on its deathbed. In 10 to 15 days the plug will be pulled.

This church, located at 1103 E. Osborne Ave has been in the neighborhood for years. One of the buildings was built in 1952 and the corporation has existed since at least since 1968. It apparently was a large church in its heyday. It sits on at least 2 acres, not including the outlying lots it owns for parking. It has 3 large buildings and a house. It looks like it could have had a large Sunday School or a small private school on premises at some point. The tax appraiser valued the 25,000 square feet of buildings and the land at more than 1 million dollars.

So what happened? I don't know for sure. I really do not know much about the history of this church. I believe that when the neighborhood deteriorated the church followed suit. There may have been some controversy that split the church too.

We all had high hopes with the arrival of the current Pastor, Rev. Samuel Kikland. He and his wife, Katie, tried to up the membership and improve the church facilities. Just last year they changed the name to "Faith In Christ Cathedral", I presume as part of the turnaround effort.

Apparently to no avail.

The church is closing and the property was sold. This is so sad. A part of the history of Southeast Seminole Heights will be gone forever.

However, paralleing Christian beliefs, there is hope in the death of this church.

Because the new owner is another church.

This will be a resurrection of sorts. Any church that can afford to buy this large church property must be a thriving, growing, energetic church. This bodes well for the neighborhood. More people will be coming into the neighborhood to go to this church at different times during the week, and they will spend money on gas, food and other items. As most new owners do, they will likely start rehabilitating the place. Perhaps some of these people many decide they like the neighborhood and move in themselves. Perhaps this church will offer programs neighbors can find beneficial or interesting. These new owners take over in 10 to 15 days. We shall see where things go.

P.S. It would be good if some of the histories and memories of this church could be written down added to the official history of the neighborhood. Some may ask why is it called New Orleans Baptist Church when it is on Osborne? Originally I believe the church was on New Orleans in a smaller place and expanded to this location.