History

Seeing the need for a new Baptist Church in the City of Springfield, on December 14, 1871 seventeen believing persons set out to organize a new church. The organized meeting was held at Cook’s Hall on 6th Street & Adams. Being united in their quest, the name Union Baptist Church was adopted for this new congregation.

Among those present were The Reverend John Livingston, The Reverend L.A. Coleman, and three lay members who would later become Union’s first Deacons: Brothers Thornton Coleman, Sr., James Yaber and James Johnson.

1871 – 1874 Services held at Cook’s Hall
• Reverend John Livingston was the organizer and thus became the first pastor of Union Baptist Church.
1874 – 1879
• 2nd Pastor – Reverend L.A. Coleman
1879 – 1889
• 3rd Pastor – Reverend J.A. Raymond
• 4th Pastor – Reverend R.T. Robinson
1889 – 1894
• 5th Pastor – Reverend Bulford Hillman
1894 – 1897
• 6th Pastor – Reverend J.T. Caston
1897 – 1899
• 7th Pastor – Reverend George H. McDaniels
1899 – 1903
• 8th Pastor – Reverend T.L. Smith (resigned in 1903 to pastor 1st Baptist Church in Quincy, IL)
1903 – 1907
• 9th Pastor – Reverend J.B. Underwood
• 10th Pastor – Reverend M.R. McClelland (served for only 3 months)
1907 – 1908
• 11th Pastor – Reverend S.C. Manuel
• Served greatly for nearly 1-year until his former church in New Albany, IN requested his return for their salvation. Pastor Manuel offered to resign from Union to return to Second Baptist, but the membership refused his resignation but granted him a one-year leave of absence. He eventually spent three years at his former church and was later called to the Fifth Street Baptist Church in Richmond, Va. in November 1911).

1908 Race Riot
• 1908 was a year of turmoil for the City of Springfield. The city and the African American Community was torn apart by the 1908 Race Riot. Two innocent black men were lynched and many black-own businesses & homes were burned by a white mob angered over the false allegations of a white woman being raped by a black man. This mob rampaged through the black community and at one point set their sights on burning down Union Baptist Church, which at that time was the most upstanding church in the black community. Union was spared when the mob was redirected to the home of William Donigan, a well known black shoemaker who was married to a white woman. Donigan was dragged from his home, his throat was slashed, and he was lynched in Edwards School yard across the street from his home. This riot led to the formation of the (NAACP) National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

1908 – 1914
• 12th Pastor – Reverend B.M. Ivy
• 13th Pastor – Reverend E. Calvin Cole
1914 – 1945
• In 1914 Rev. Stolford Costen Manuel was once again called to serve as pastor of Union Baptist Church. Upon his return, he found the church in a very low state spiritually & financially and the membership attendance was weak. His return lifted the spirits of the congregation while the LORD infused new life into the church. The building itself was in disrepair and he began investigating the possibility of building a new house of worship.

• The church continued to thrive under the leadership of Pastor and Mrs. Manuel. In 1940 Union Baptist Church along with St. John’s Church were forced to sell the existing property to the Springfield Housing Authority and relocate to make way for the Federal Public Housing Project planned for Springfield. By this time Rev. Manuel’s health had began to fail, but along with his loyal membership he declared, “With God’s help, I will build the new church.” Brother Frank Cason, a member of the Building Committee, discovered & presented to the church the lot at 14th and Monroe Street. They started, in God’s name, to build a new edifice on the new lot. Even though sailing was not always smooth Pastor always said, “God will let me live long enough to build the new church, preach the first sermon, and pay for the church. Then I will be ready to go on to Heaven.” God granted him his prayer request. By 1945, the church was completed and paid in full.

• On Sunday morning November 4, 1945 at St. John’s Hospital, with his loyal devoted wife and son Orville at his bedside, God quietly called Reverend Manuel home. Pastor Stolford Costen Manuel faithfully served The Union Baptist Church and the Springfield community for 35 years to the Glory of God.

1946 – 1967
• 15th Pastor – Reverend Dr. J. Alfred Wilson
• On the 18th of January 1946, the members of Union Baptist Church extended the call to the Rev. J. Alfred Wilson. At the time, Reverend Wilson was ministering to the Calvary Baptist Church in Monmouth, IL where he had faithfully served for five years. Reverend Wilson and his dedicated wife, Mrs. Annie Lucile Lindsay Wilson, were parents of six children, two of which were alive at the time of his call to Union.

• Rev. Wilson plunged immediately into the work the Lord had set before him. Within twelve months of his arrival, a new parsonage had been constructed, and a new heating plant was installed to heat both Church and parsonage. Other building improvements included air conditioning and musical instruments, making Union one of the more modern churches in the state at the time. Additionally, new property and a bus for church transportation were purchased.

• On September 19, 1967, Dr. Wilson answered the call of his Master and went home to be with God. He served the community for 21 years.

1968 – 2000
• 16th Pastor – Reverend Dr. Rudolph S. Shoultz
• On January 15, 1968, the Reverend Doctor Rudolph Samuel Shoultz, was unanimously selected to be our next Pastor. Dr. Shoultz, his wife, Vera, and two children, Tony and Michele moved into the church parsonage on April 1, 1968.

• Dr. Shoultz, a great leader and dynamic messenger of God, wasted no time taking Union to higher heights. In June 1970, ground was broken to remodel the sanctuary as well as construction of an education facility.

• Among the attributes under Dr. Shoultz were opening the Union Baptist Day Care Center in 1970 and the Radio Broadcast which began in February in 1973, on WTAX-1240 AM. Property east of the church was eventually purchased for off-street parking and a playground. It was paid off in nine years and dedicated on November 5, 1979. Originally set up for a 20-year mortgage, Union Baptist Church paid off the over a quarter of a million-dollar loan for the Educational Building in just under 2 years. The mortgage was burned in 1982.

• In 1988, The Union Baptist Soup Kitchen began and soon evolved into the UBC Food Pantry.

• Through a partnership with regional developers, the church was able to build a 24-unit Senior Citizen low-rise apartment complex which was opened on March 10, 1991.

• The vision of expanding the sanctuary and building a school with twelve classrooms to aid in the Christian Education Ministry, (Project 2000), was put into action by Dr. Shoultz in 1998, but due to his illness, he knew that he would most likely not see the vision be fully realized in his lifetime.

• On March 3, 2000, after a long illness, surrounded by his devoted wife Vera, family members, faithful church members and friends, Rev. Dr. Rudolph Samuel Shoultz, was called home to be with The Lord.

• The day of the funeral services, a full contingent of City and Illinois State Police closed off city streets as they escorted the funeral procession from Union Baptist Church to Oak Ridge Cemetery where he was laid to rest on a hillside in the shadow of President Abraham Lincoln’s Tomb.

2002 – Present
• 17th Pastor – Reverend T. Ray McJunkins
• Reverend T. Ray McJunkins accepted the call as pastor of Union Baptist Church on July 31, 2002, becoming only the fourth pastor in 96 years of Union Baptist Church’s history. Pastor McJunkins, wife Dietra and daughter Chelsea, moved to Springfield the very next month in August of 2002.

• Pastor Mac, as he is affectionately called, continued with the Reverend Shoultz’s and the Lord’s plan to expand Unions facilities ministering not only to our membership, but the community. In addition, he enhanced the role of Christian Education resulting in Unions growth both spiritually and physically.

• Breaking ground in June 2004 for $4.5 million, a 40,000 square foot facility; including new sanctuary, educational wing, and Family Life Center (Gymnasium) was constructed.

• The first service in the new Sanctuary was held on Christmas Day, December 25, 2005. Through Pastor McJunkin’s leadership, and by the grace of God, the now 60,000 square foot facility has enhanced the ministry of Union Baptist Church and provides a venue for ministry outreach on local, regional, and national levels. Union Baptist Church facility often referred to as “The 1405” encompasses a one block radius of Monroe & Adams Street north & south ,and 14th & 15th Street east & west and includes the 24-unit Senior Citizen low-rise apartment complex that was opened on March 10, 1991. The ministries of Union Baptist Church at “The 1405” serve the entire city of Springfield while holding fast to our Mission Statement: “We, Union Baptist Church, are committed to meeting the needs of the total person; the physical, the spiritual, as well as a concern for their social and economic wellbeing. Through the preaching & teaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the form of both an outreach and inner ministry, the kingdom will be advanced, and humanity will be made whole.”