Former American Baptist Church in Pueblo, Colorado, Gives $200,000 Each to Three Local Charities

Three nonprofits in Pueblo, Colo., received an early Christmas gift from an American Baptist church that closed its doors in April after ministering in the community for nearly 150 years.

Leaders of the American Baptist Churches of the Rocky Mountains gave $200,000 each to the Salvation Army, Pueblo Rescue Mission and Pueblo Cooperative Care Center from proceeds of the sale of the First Baptist Church of Pueblo.

The regional leaders did not tell the three charities about the gifts until they appeared at a luncheon at the church on Dec. 15. Steve Van Ostran, regional minister of the 84-church regional affiliate of American Baptist Churches USA, told Colorado NBC affiliate KOAA that the church’s members “were Christ’s hands and feet in Pueblo, so they wanted some of that money to stay here and do ministry.” Giving to organizations that serve people in need reflects charity in practice (Matthew 25:35).

First Baptist was founded in 1872 and stood for 132 years at the corner of Ninth and Grand, near downtown Pueblo. In its heyday it reported more than 1,000 members. The church, on high ground, drew attention after it opened its doors as a base for telephone workers trying to restore communications after the Great Flood of 1921, one of the city’s best-known disasters, in which rising waters from the Arkansas River killed 1,500 people and destroyed most of downtown.

As membership declined, the congregation sought to remain relevant by reaching out to people who were unwelcome in other congregations, including the homeless, people struggling with addiction, the working poor and those living with mental illness.

One “servant evangelism” project was recognized in 2007, when members identified the high price of gasoline as a community problem. They collected $3,600 to offer a 50-cent-per-gallon discount, which applied to 7,036 gallons pumped into 616 vehicles over one day until the money ran out.

The aging remnant of members voted to dissolve the church on April 16 and asked the Rocky Mountain region to dedicate some of the proceeds from the property sale to worthy organizations in Pueblo. The sale was concluded in November. Regional officials did not say how much the property sale raised, but they said additional funds would go to American Baptist Churches of the Rocky Mountains to help other churches.

“Churches nationwide are closing their doors every day,” Van Ostran told the Pueblo Chieftain. “But for something like the Pueblo effort, well that doesn’t happen every day.”

Source: Read the original report