St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church About St Luke

St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church

Church History

In the Year 1948 a few saints, believing in god to lead them, formed the 9th Street Baptist Church with Rev. Paul Vaughn in the home of Mrs. Ford. Through the years there were other ministers called to the pastorate (Rev. Blackburn, Rev. Flowers and Rev. Wilson) upon moving to 7th and Liberty, under the pastorate of Rev Wilson, the name was changed to St. Luke.

We later called Rev. John Boone as pastor and moved to 711 Oak Street, then to 1626 W. Kentucky. At that present site the deacons were Brothers Richard Stevenson and Rufus Tarpin.

In 1969 we extended the call to Rev. Earl W. Drake sr. Through his guidance we enhanced our faith, made it through trials and tribulations, praised God and continued to recognize that God is good all the time. With much hard work we were able to purchase a building at 426 So. 20th Street and pay the mortgage off in record time. Seeing the need for better facilities we were able to build a new edifice debt free. Rev. Drake served as pastor until his death in 1999, at which time rev. Walter W. Ballinger was extended the invitation to lead the church.

Rev. Walter W. Ballinger accepted. As a congregation, we feel that he was sent to us by God. In many ways he showed us that he was truly working for the Lord. We were truly blessed to have such a leader. In February 2008 Rev. Ballinger was called to eternal rest.

In May of 2008 St. Luke offered its pulpit to Rev. Robert C. Drake Sr. Although young in the ministry, under his leadership, we have experienced tremendous spiritual growth. He has initiated a new member’s class, a church website, and Children’s Church. Rev. Drake is a son of St. Luke, with his father pastoring for over thirty years and his mother being the music director, he is no stranger to the church and has proved to us that he has the Lord and the church at heart and we feel he was truly sent to us by God.

With Blessings from God and guidance from our Senior Pastor, St. Luke established a Vision2Victory campaign. On January 19th 2011, the members of St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church was able to purchase property on Dr. W.J. Hodge Street, embarking on our “Vision to Victory”, our first step in expanding our worship center and our continuance in building up the kingdom of God!

We can truly thank the Lord because He has guided us in our every effort. He promised not to leave His believing children. He continues to bless us daily, knowingly and unknowingly. We pray for the continued love for one another and that we maintain the faith that strengthens us in the advancement to the Kingdom of our Savior.

We would like to thank all of our officers for their services rendered daily. We would also like to thank all the pastor’s and churches that have worshiped with us over the years. It’s very important that in this race, we continue to stay focused on keeping these fellowships strong. This allows us to show the world that there is JOY in serving a TRUE and LIVING GOD!