First Baptist Church was conceived as a vision of Dr. Dallas Billington, pastor of Akron Baptist Temple, then one of the world's largest churches. The first service was held on the last Sunday of April, 1950. In July of that year, Ashland Baptist Temple was organized and called Rev. Billy Absalom as the first pastor. The new church met first in an apartment on Main Street in Ashland, then rented the basement of Lincoln School before acquiring two lots of land at the intersection of 11th and Troy Streets. In 1954, the church voted to change its name to First Baptist Church. The present facilities were built in 1978. After Bro. Absalom, the church was served by the following pastors:

• Rev Carl MacDonald - 1956~1960
• Rev Horace Nutt - 1960~1965
• Rev E Richard Lane - 1965~1974
• Rev Bruce Foss - 1974~1992

In August, 1992 was the beginning of the present pastorate. F. R. "Butch" White accepted the church's call and moved his family from San Antonio, Texas, where he had pastored Grace Baptist Temple for eight years. Before that, Pastor White had ministered at Burton Road Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, after graduation from college. The pastor has undergraduate degrees from Baptist Bible College and Pacific Coast Baptist Bible College. He received his masters degree from Louisiana Baptist University and is presently doing doctoral work through Southwestern Bible College and Seminary.

Pastor White and his wife, Cheryl (also a BBC graduate), enjoy the ministry to the thriving congregation God has placed at FBC. They have three children. Bethany is a minister's wife in Philadelphia, Mark is a businessman in Charlotte, and Micah is a student at the University of Toledo. They also have two grandchildren, Kara and Seth.

During the past eleven years, hundreds of people have received Christ and over one million dollars have been given to missions through FBC. At this time, a Family Life Center is under construction and scheduled for completion in the fall of 2004. It will house a full-sized gymnasium, a large, fully-functional kitchen, five classrooms, two nurseries, restrooms and ample storage space. The FLC will use geothermal and floor coil heating and employ many other new features.Click here for pictures of our FLC center currently under construction.

The history of FBC is exciting and so is the future. Pray with us that God will continue to use FBC to reach a lost and dying world.