First Baptist’s Golden Jubilee

The pealing of the bell in the tower of the First Baptist Church sounded just a little sweeter as peace came and the memory of World War II receded.

This week we’ll continue our look back at the church at 401 6th St.

With the war over, our boys in the service returned home as men to fill the pews and listen to the messages of its pastor, Rev. Luther A. Arthur.

Life in our beach town was returning to normal, and the church would again be able to see its young and old together once again.

“There is a spirit of camaraderie about a church which seems to say, we do not care why you come here or where you come from, you will find this home beside the sea is a haven in your dreams,” Arthur said as he was honored during Christmas 1950.

On Jan. 12, 1951, the church members celebrated their annual fellowship with a dinner that was attended by over 120 members and friends. The Men’s Brotherhood cooked and served the baked ham and all the accompaniments.

Joe Perry and Eber Flaws led a pre-dinner songfest, and after dinner Robert Hoisington introduced Rev. and Mrs. Antonia Jimenez of the Fountain Valley mission church.

Next came the Rev. Don Lamberson from the church’s Newport Beach mission, who spoke about “A Pattern of Peace.”

As we entered into the 1950s, the bell in the old wooden tower tolled for the Korean War. Rev. Arthur would again be called to pray over the body of a fallen soldier, someone he had baptized into this world years earlier.

He had to stand and watch the empty pews and the sorrow on the faces of his congregation once again. Men were called to become chaplains in military bases both here and abroad, and one of these chaplains would later play an important roll in the church’s history.

As Christmas of 1951 came, we find the church presenting a cantata entitled “The Holy Message of Christmas,” presented by the younger members of the congregation. Glenda Orrell narrated the story that featured Lois Holliday and Bill Barrows as Mary and Joseph and Roylene Gutherie as the angel of the Lord. Watching over their flock were shepherds Buddy Belshe, Tommy Burrows, Larry Faith, Don Pyatt and Jim Snipes.

After 33 years of service to the church, Rev. Arthur decided to leave the church, possibly because of a conflict between him and the church board. He departed in September 1954 and established a outreach mission church he called the Golden Rule Assembly at Rebekah Hall, 226 Main St.

It was during this time that the Arthurs moved out of their Seventh Street home into one at 905 Palm Ave.

The First Baptist board brought in an interim pastor, Urven V. White, until a permanent pastor could be found. White had been head of religious education at the California Baptist Seminary. During World War II, he was on active duty overseas with the Heavy Bomber Group 8 in England. He was commissioned a lieutenant colonel in the chaplain corps reserve and also served at Fort MacArthur.

White received his doctorate at Southwestern Seminary at Fort Worth, Texas, and was ordained at the American Baptist Convention. He would remain interim pastor at the church until April 1955.

In March 1955 a U.S. Army chaplain, Lowell R. Spangler, 36, was appointed pastor of the church, and he preached his first sermon still wearing his army uniform.

Rev. Spangler celebrated Easter Week with a series of sermons that led up to the holy day of Easter.

Spangler is a native Californian, born in San Jose on Oct. 19, 1917. In 1940 he met Edith Johnson, and two years later they were wed. Spangler attended Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, and in 1947 he received his bachelor’s degree.

At a time when Rev. Arthur was pastor here, Spangler was serving in Korea as an army chaplain in combat, for which he was awarded a Bronze Star.

In 1957 a new educational wing was proposed, and in 1958 a groundbreaking ceremony took place. That wing still stands behind the church on Orange Avenue.

In 1960 the church installed a large stained glass window in the church that was dedicated to Mr. and Mrs. William “Shorty” Preston.

Shorty had been a member of the church for 56 years, and Spangler recalled that Shorty took it upon himself to record all the baptisms on the underside of the baptistery cover and the names of all the wedding couples on the underside of the steps leading to the pulpit.

That same year of 1960, Spangler left the church and was succeeded by Rev. Gordon Gilbert in 1961.

Next week we’ll conclude the rich history of this church as it merges with two other churches and looks forward to the prospects of building a new church edifice at Gothard Street and Center Avenue