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Our History


View From The Sky

First Baptist Church of Gillette's origin dates back to 1850 and first became organized in 1868.  It is the first baptist chuch to be orgainzed in what we know today as Manatee County and it was the first church of any denomination to be organized north of the Manatee River.

Church Names

  • Benevolence Church 1868-1899
  • New Hope Baptist Church 1900-1931
  • Gillette First Baptist Church 1932-Present


List of Pastors

  • 2008-        Tim Durden 
  • 2004-2008 W.A. "Bud" Gillett
  • 1993-2004 Ron Gaudio
  • 1971-1992 Howard Carter
  • 1971 L.J. Coker, interim
  • 1969-1970 Robert J. Cook
  • 1968 Earl Boyette, H.T. Rafnel, interim
  • 1964-1967 Charles Nelson
  • 1962-1964 Carl Adams
  • 1959-1961 Robert Dykes
  • 1955-1959 Kenneth Holland
  • 1954 Lewis Rimes
  • 1953-1954 Lloyd English
  • 1951-1952 David Lynn
  • 1949-1950 C. Earl Haynes
  • 1942-1949 Walter Bates
  • 1940-1941 Fred Burnett
  • 1936-1940 J.H. Johnston
  • 1936 E.C. Sanders
  • 1935 Rev. Geering (supply)
  • 1928-1935 Joe McLeod
  • 1924-1928 S.B. Burnett
  • 1908-1924 J.F. Reeder
  • 1902-1907 O.N. Williams
  • 1902 J.N. Thompson
  • 1901 H.H. Norris
  • 1900-1901 P.O. Miller
  • 1899 Unknown
  • 1897-1898 J.D Harrelson
  • 1895-1896 J.B. Lamb
  • 1890-1895 R.H. Whitehead
  • 1890 J.J Robertson
  • 1889 T.J. Sparkman, James F. Eddings
  • 1887-1888 H.H. Norris
  • 1886-1887 David Robertson
  • 1885 J.H. Hayman, Armstrong, Robertson
  • 1883-1884 A. Robertson
  • 1880-1883 I.A. Redd
  • 1874-1879 J.J. Robertson
  • 1873 E. Chancy
  • 1872 Unknown
  • 1870-1871 G.B Harrell
  • 1869 J.W. Hendry
  • 1868 Unknown


Source

Marvis R. Snell. Testimony to Pioneer Baptists, The Histoy and Development of the Gillette First Baptist Church, Printed by E.O. Painter, DeLeon Springs, Florida, Copyright 1974


In Print

Testimony to Pioneer Baptists: The History and Development of the Gillette First Baptist Church
Marvis R. Snell

This 355-page hardcover book, first published in 1974, tells how early missionary efforts led to the founding of Benevolence Baptist Church. Benevolence, now known as Gillette First Baptist Church, is the mosest Baptist church in Southwest Florida. Circuit-riding preachers began their work around 1850, and the Church was formally established before 1868.

Testimony to Pioneer Baptists then traces the history of the Church from its origins in a log meeting house through its subsequent three moves, forced by fire and hard economic times, to its current location. Community life is chronicled in this history, year-by-year, offering a uniquely complete record of a rural Florida settlement from its beginnings, in the 1840s, into the late 20th Century.

Click here to Order a Copy or to Contact Snell Publishing, Inc.
Last Updated ( Feb 01, 2009 at 11:48 PM )