A Brief History
The Illinois Baptist State Association received a charter as an Illinois corporation on November 2, 1907, at Marion, Illinois. Its place of business was moved to Du Quoin, Illinois in 1923, to Carbondale, Illinois in 1930 and to Springfield, Illinois in 1971.
Today, nearly 1,000 churches and missions are affiliated with the IBSA.
Our Timeline
1906 Meeting held to discuss organizing new state convention
1907 IBSA organized
1907 Benjamin Franklin Rodman named executive director
1907 First IBSA Annual Meeting held
1908 Illinois Women’s Missionary Union organized
1910 IBSA joins the Southern Baptist Convention
1911 Illinois WMU becomes an auxiliary of IBSA
1913 Our Savior Polish Baptist Church, Chicago becomes first ethnic church to join IBSA
1914 Baptist Children’s Home, Carmi organized
1919 IBSA participates in the 75 Million Campaign (pre-cursor to the Cooperative Program)
1925 The Cooperative Program begin
1926 James Madison Pepper named executive director
1929 Edgar Wiley Reeder named executive
1929 Baptist Student Union organized (would later become Baptist Collegiate Ministries)
1937 First state Brotherhood organization formed
1938 Baptist Foundation of Illinois formed
1941 Lake Sallateeska Baptist Camp purchased
1946 Noel M. Taylor named executive director
1948 IBSA authorized to begin churches in the northern part of Illinois
1950 SBC held in Chicago
1953 Carbondale Baptist Building established
1956 Convention-backed Bond Program begins
1957 SBC held in Chicago
1965 James Godsoe named IBSA’s first Language (Ethnic) Missions Consultant
1967 James Hillman Smith named executive director
1968 First Community Baptist, Royal Lake becomes one of the first African American churches to join IBSA
1969 Streator Baptist Camp purchased
1971 Springfield Baptist (IBSA) Building established
1976 “We Were There” history of IBSA by Robert J. Hastings published
1980 Ernest Moseley named executive director
1981 Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief Team established
1982 Convention-backed Bond Program given to the Home Mission Board (now North American Mission Board)
1988 Maurice Swinford named executive director
1989 L.D. Patrick named IBSA’s first Anglo Church Consultant
1990 IBSA begins first mission partnerships with Mississippi and the Caribbean
1993 Clarence F. Shuler named IBSA’s first African American Church Consultant
1993 Petah Tikvah becomes IBSA’s first Messianic Jewish congregation
1993 Maternity Center, Mt. Vernon completed
1993 M. Eugene Wilson named executive director
1994 Convention adopts “declaration of repentance” for past racism
1996 Robert Wiley named executive director
2003 Wendell Lang named executive director
2006 Nate Adams named executive director
2007 IBSA celebrates 100 years
2012 IBSA Building remodel completed
2013 The work of IBSA is identified as “Mission Illinois” with the theme “Churches together advancing the gospel.”
