The history of a church is more than a calendar of dates and events, an account of land purchased and buildings erected, or a list of organizations and their purposes, a church is "people worshiping the LORD."
For over 140 years First Baptist Church of Hackensack has been sharing the Word of God to the greater New York City metropolitan area. Established on April 7, 1870 the members of this church soon bought a small plot of land and constructed a chapel. In 1916, with 179 members, the Lord called Pastor Harry C. Leach to be Senior Pastor. In a way that seemed miraculous the church began to grow and needed to expand. By 1922 the "Service House" (on the northwest corner of Union and Passaic) was acquired and plans were started to construct a new Sanctuary and on August 26, 1923 the cornerstone of the new church was laid. By 1940, membership had grown to 850, and on December 1, 1948, Dr. Leach retired after 32 years of faithful ministry, the title of Pastor Emeritus was given to him.
On September 18, 1949, Reverend Joseph M. Stowell preached his first sermon as Senior Pastor at First Baptist Hackensack. By September, 1951, the church had purchased the Horton property, the Terhune property adjoining "the annex", and on October 10th the congregation voted unanimously to construct a new Bible School building. On May 10, 1953 the cornerstone was laid, and on Sunday, September 20, 1953 the building was opened and formally dedicated. In 1957 a branch mission work was inaugurated and the first such branch church was the Valley Baptist Church in River Vale (now Cornerstone Bible Church), that was soon followed by other churches. By the year 1959, the church undertook sponsorship of a radio program "The Bible Truth Hour" where Pastor Stowell preached each Sunday morning and in 1960, 86 and 92 Passaic St., two additional houses were purchased for use as staff & missionary housing. On the last Sunday of October 1969, Pastor Stowell conducted his last worship service at FBC after 20 faithful years. 1970 marked the Centennial Year of First Baptist Church Hackensack, and at this time membership was at 1400!
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