Englewood Baptist Church Englewood children playing
Brief History of Englewood Baptist Church

In 1955, when the Northland area was growing by leaps and bounds, the Clay-Platte Baptist Association felt a need for another church in the area. They purchased and renovated the property owned by Mr. J. C. Beery on Englewood Road to use as a mission of the Winnwood Baptist church.

On December 16, 1956 Englewood Baptist Church was officially constituted with 158 charter members. A celebration of our 50th anniversary of the church was held on Sunday, September 17, 2006.

At first, most of the church's activities took place in the converted Beery residence and in an old log cabin situated directly behind it. A new, separate education building was built in 1957 to help keep pace with the church's rapid growth. When the membership had outgrown those facilities, Englewood again entered into a construction program and a new two-story building, which serves as the church's sanctuary and education wing, was completed in 1961. In 1970 a multi-purpose ministries building with a gymnasium was added. That building, along with the education building, were sold to the Creative Arts Academy in 2004.

During its first 50 years, Englewood has been served by five outstanding pastors:

  • Rev. Hubert Byrd - May 1956 to December 1963
  • Rev. Elwyn Hays - April 1964 to April 1976
  • Dr. T. Lee Stephens - August 1976 to October 1988
  • Dr. James C. Browning - November 1989 to August 2004
  • Rev. Elizabeth Ashley-Pritchett - September 2005 to May 2007
Other interim pastors were:
  • Dr Morris Ashcraft in 1964 and again in 1976
  • Dr. James C. Browning in May 1989 to November 1989
  • Dr. Richard Olson from October 2004 to August 2005
Rev. Elizabeth Ashley-Pritchett and Rev. Micah Pritchettcame to serve and lead as Englewood's Co-Coordinating Pastors in September 2005. After a year and a half as a successful team, Rev. Elizabeth Ashley-Pritchett resigned to pursue further education. Rev. Micah Pritchett continues to serve as Coordinating Pastor. Music and Choir are led by Jim Swofford. Pam May, Janice Hale and John Kroner volunteer their time as church accompanists. Audrey Anderson is the Church Administrator.

Throughout the years, Englewood has helped minister to the needs of the community -- with a kindergarten in the late 1950s, a CP Day Care, a mobile home ministry from 1973 to 1977, a child-care center (January 1975 to October 1981), etc. Members have participated in mission trips to other states, helped to provide breakfast for the homeless for several years at Covenant Baptist Church in downtown Kansas City, co-sponsored the Siloam Springs Mission in Excelsior Springs, provided space for the Good Neighbor for the Elderly, and our facilities were used for the government's adult nutrition site.

Currently the Missions Committee has bins for paper recycling and the money received is used for our ministries. Englewood also has a food pantry, which provides food for needy area families. The church routinely has collection boxes for items needed by groups that request assistance. For example, the church has collected items for a church mission trip and for Forest Avenue shelter. In October 2005 the church decided to partner with Golden Oaks School. Members have volunteered their time to help with the school’s BackSnack Program, serve as Youth Friends, and often donate incentive prizes for the children. In turn, the students of Golden Oaks have donated generously to Englewood’s Food Pantry. Englewood members also volunteer with the Shepherds' Center, an organization which helps elderly residents.

Englewood's Church Cabinet is made up of the ministers of the church and chairpersons of the major committees. Current committees are: Children & Youth Education Ministries, Ministries Committee, Nominating Committee, Stewardship Committee, and Worship Committee. There are also some volunteer coordinators. The following statement is printed in our Sunday morning worship bulletins along with a list of the leaders of the church: "Every member of Englewood Baptist Church, as Christ's disciple, is called to Christian Ministry."

Some Englewood traditions are the celebration of the Advent season, Lenten services, Brown Bag Sundays (to help replenish the food pantry), monthly family pot luck dinners, and our Englewood Day celebration in the fall. A Parent/Child Dedication is held during either the Mother's Day or Father's Day worship service for new babies in the church. Englewood celebrates "open communion" -- stressing that the invitation is to the Lord's table and not ours. We have both men and women who serve as deacons on the Care-Giving Ministry Team, the Prayer Ministry Team and the Visitation Ministry Team.

The church is a member of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and is seeking to become a vibrant, missional community of faith.