History of College Heights Baptist Church in Manhattan KS

College Heights Baptist Church has a rich history. “Through It All” could be our theme song. Our prayer is that “Through it all we’ve learned to trust in Jesus, we’ve learned to trust in God and we’ve learned to depend upon His Word.”

Our church has weathered a number of changes over the years and we have depended on God through each one. We began as the Central Baptist Mission in December, 1953 as a home fellowship that met on Tuesday nights at 420 Colorado St. The average attendance was seven. The first meetings were held in a second-floor hall at the intersection of Third Street and Poyntz. The mission constituted on August 31, 1954. Wayne Flory was the pastor and the church had 48 members. The services during the first two years were held in the Seventh-day Adventist building at Sixth and Laramie. The first building on the present property was completed in 1957. The concrete slab and basement for the second unit were poured in November, 1959. The ministry of the church began to flourish with the addition of a number of KSU faculty and staff families. Undeterred by its poor financial history, the church voted in 1966 to issue bonds and build the present sanctuary. The building, consisting of a 230 seat auditorium, a fellowship hall, and a kitchen, was completed in April, 1967. In 1975 the church changed the name to College Heights Baptist.

During the 1980’s, College Heights served as a vibrant influence in the community while being particularly missions conscious. The home church established three new missions in those years, each of which has since been constituted as a self-sustaining church: Ogden Baptist Church August 4, 1991; New Hope Community Church September 8, 1991; Crossroads Baptist Church October 2, 1994.

Since 1982, College Heights Baptist Church has sponsored Conversational English classes with hundreds of students from all over the world having participated in the program. These classes are taught entirely by volunteers. The goal of the program is to make the international student’s time in the United States more enjoyable by helping them with their spoken English. Each week (September through April) students attend classes where they make new friends, both American and international, and learn everyday American speech designed to help them learn to communicate in an American culture and give them an opportunity to hear the Good News about Jesus. Our prayer is that it will continue to reach people with the gospel for years to come.

In 1987 a special planning committee was set aside to write a mission statement and goals which would guide the ministry of the church.

Goals of the College Heights Baptist Church:

• To develop a spiritually vital church membership.
• To share Christ with unbelievers.
• To perform Christ’s ministry in the community.
• To extend our church’s ministry throughout the world.
• To renew our church’s life through improved operations.

Missions activity has been, and continues to be, a special part of our ministry. Over the years we have sponsored a number of missionaries and continue to support this activity diligently.

Remaining focused on our objective, “To lead lost people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and to lead Christians toward spiritual maturity” we have recently embraced a new vision to be a spiritually active community which regularly doubles itself. We are in the beginning stages of reaching that vision and look forward to seeing the process of spiritual multiplication continue to take place at College Heights.