Ogden Baptist Church is celebrating 200 years of faith and giving this year. The congregation reached their first mission goal of over 200 food items to donate to the Spencerport Ecumenical Food Shelf in February. All are invited attend Sunday services in the historic church and to help in the March “200” mission, which is collecting all kinds of paper and personal items to be donated to Cameron Community Ministries. April’s “200” mission will be gift cards for Aurora House.
In 1819, with 13 members starting the new Baptist Church in Ogden, they could not at first support a pastor or a church building. Meetings were held in private dwellings, a log schoolhouse, or on more important occasions, empty barns.
Sometime in the 1820s a house of worship was constructed in Ogden Center on what is now Union Street. This building was apparently not satisfactory and in 1832 there was a unanimous vote to hold meetings in a house owned by Brother Ross on Colby Street until the meetinghouse at Colby Corners would be ready. That meetinghouse, which is now Ogden Baptist Church, held its first service on May 23, 1833.
It was with a great deal of personal sacrifice that these buildings were erected by the early members, who were devoted to their church. Church attendance was taken very seriously, and there is record of good attendance in spite of nearly impassable roads filled with deep mud and snow.
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