History

In 1832 a small group of people met in what is now the south end of our recreation hall. On January 10th, after much prayerful deliberation, this group decided to organize as a Baptist Church. In February, a group of 9 men and 3 women presented their letters from the area churches to which they belonged and became the first members. Our church was named, the 2nd Baptist Church and Society of Parma (Corners).

The need to work in fellowship and community with other churches was evident. Ministers from seven area churches in Parma, Ogden, and possibly Brockport were invited to attend a “council”.

On October 30, 1932, we were accepted into the regional American Baptist Association, Monroe Association, on the region’s fifth anniversary. (The Monroe Association later became TABCOMA, and then today’s name, the American Baptist Churches of the Rochester-Genesee Region). Although our church was eager to associate with regional churches, there is minimal involvement in ecumenical outreach mentioned.

Our church took care of its own problems—social, religious, and personal. The elders/deacons were deeply concerned about the moral wellbeing of its members. Convenant meetings were held the Saturday before Communion. At these meetings, members were expected to confess their sins. If the church member didn’t confess their sin, his/her neighbor would. The church member could not partake of communion unless they attended Convenant meeting. After much prayer and counseling, membership was occasionally withdrawn for not “walking in the way of the Lord”.

In February 1835, the members decided to build a church of cobblestone. No further mention is made of the building project. Pictures of the church show a wooden building. In 1871, a barn was added to the property in the back to shelter the horses and carriages for protection from the weather. In 1839, a Sabboth school was established. Religious education of the youth was quite new at that time.

In those times, pastors were paid with a place to stay, food, and wood. In 1836, there were problems raising a salary of $400/year. That salary held until the 1880’s.

Little, if anything, is mentioned of national or world events. Samuel Palmer, a founding member of the church, was involved in the Underground Railroad. Although the Underground Railroad was considered humanitarian, it was not permissible for a church member to be involved. His membership was withdrawn and there is no further mention of him in the clerk’s book.

In 1881, Rev. McCollough left to serve in the mission field. The place was not named. Others left our church for the mission field in the later part of the century. Rev. and Mrs. Grosbeck served in China for 5 years. They returned to Parma and ministered again before returning to China. A women’s group was named, the Clara Grosbeck Society, in her honor. That group and name lasted long into the 20th century. Around the same time, Frances Palmer entered the mission field in Burma. She brought back a bell which was used to dismiss the Sunday school classes.

In February 1924 a heater overheated and the church burned to the ground. Rev. Norton went from house to house, business to business, to raise money to re-build the church. He was most successful and by the end of 1924 our present church was built. Since the Baptist Temple (Rochester) was rebuilding their church, they donated their pews with maroon cushions. These pews are the same ones we are still using today.

There was no baptistry in the old church. Baptisms performed prior to the church being re-built were done in the creek off Webster Road. There were many baptisms done in February and March. What a blessing to have an indoor baptistry in the re-built church. Church member, Erma Wilder, was the last person to be baptized in the creek. Her deceased husband, Cliff, was the first to be baptized indoors.

At the same time that the church was rebuilt, a spacious four-bedroom parsonage was built across the street from the church which is still being used today.

A mortgage burning ceremony was held at a church service on January 10, 1943. It was quite an accomplishment since this was at the time of the Depression and WWII.

When the church was rebuilt in 1924, there were no stained glass windows. The windows were entirely tinted opaque glass which is evident today. In the late 1940’s, two teenage boys wanted to create a special window. At the time, we had a family of immigrants from England attending the church. The father, a glazier, guided these boys in their endeavor. That stained glass window created, “To the Glory of God”, is a source of beauty in our sanctuary today. Over time, other windows in the sanctuary were also changed to stained glass windows as memorials.

In the early 1950’s, the Spencerport schools centralized and the one and two room country schools were no longer needed. The town of Parma did not need the school building next to the church so they sold us the building for $1. We built an addition to connect the church to the school building. We now use the school building as our recreation hall and host many dinners, meetings, and parties there.

In the 1960’s, minister at the time—Rev. Al Dickson, suggested that “Community” be added to our church name so the church became known as “Parma Baptist Community Church”. That is the name we still currently use.

In 1967, we broke ground for the new Sunday school wing. Since 1982, we have rented out the Sunday school wing weekdays to a day care. For years, area scout troops have met in the recreation hall.

In 1982, we celebrated our church’s sesquicentennial. We celebrated for the month of October which included a weekend in which all past ministers were invited for a Saturday night potluck supper and a special service on Sunday. Floyd Wilder, son of church member Erma Wilder, also attended as a guest minister.

Over the years repairs and improvements have been done as needed to the church and its parsonage. Early 1990’s, our sanctuary was dry walled and painted. A few years later a new sound system was installed. The slate roof of the sanctuary has been replaced with new shingles and the education wing received a new roof. An elevator was installed to make our sanctuary handicap accessible. At that same time a handicap accessible bathroom was installed. New replacement windows have been installed in the education wing and connecting hall from the sanctuary to the rec. hall. A new piano for the sanctuary was purchased.

In the late 1800’s, several roll calls were held. In 1895, 103 members responded. In the 1960’s, Rev. Dickson, celebrated long term members. In the past couple of years, we have also been recognizing our 40 and 50-year members on Rally Day. Our membership is stable with all generations represented.

Lay involvement has grown over the past 15-20 years. Youth and adults also assist in the worship service. Mission support has also grown steadily over the years. We currently have a lay reader for our worship service each Sunday who reads the bible verses during the service.

As we continue to make our history, we remain active in the community and mission support both locally, nationally, and abroad.