IN THE COUNTY LEGISLATURE OF JACKSON COUNTY, MISSOURI
Title
A RESOLUTION congratulating St. James Missionary Baptist Church of Kansas City, Missouri, on the occasion of its 150th anniversary.
Intro
RESOLUTION NO. 20539, October 26, 2020
INTRODUCED BY Scott Burnett, Theresa Cass Galvin and Ronald E. Finley, County Legislators
Body
WHEREAS, St. James Missionary Baptist Church of Kansas City, Missouri, is celebrating its 150th Anniversary; and,
WHEREAS, St. James Missionary Baptist Church was founded on November 3, 1870, by brothers Wallace E. and Howard Smith, who arrived in Westport, Missouri, from Richmond, Kentucky, with their families; and,
WHEREAS, the families eventually came to this area and, finding no Baptist church for African-Americans in Westport, together with other founding members Frank and Lettie Wells, B.J. Yates, and Henry Collins, Sr., they formed a new church led by the Reverend Jesse Harris; and,
WHEREAS, early church services were held at temporary quarters at the southeast corner of Archibald Street and what is now Mill Street, with many members baptized in Brush Creek; and,
WHEREAS, in its early form, St. James was known as the United Baptist Church of Christ at St. James Chapel and, in 1883, the young preacher L.M. Leonard ran a successful revival meeting, resulting in a great expansion of the church's membership; and,
WHEREAS, by the turn of the century, St. James had grown to a stable and established church, clearing its debt with a steady membership and notable pastoral leadership; and,
WHEREAS, over its history, St. James has suffered two significant fires, one in 1987 and the other in 1996 and, despite these setbacks, the church has rebuilt with new hope and growing faith; and,
WHEREAS, out of its struggle St. James now envisions itself as a multicultural church that makes a difference by serving food to the homeless, caring for children of single mothers, and collecting clothes for the needy - a church that is communi...
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