First Baptist Church gets its name from being the first Baptist church incorporated within a given city or town. The
full name of this church is often First Baptist Church of Atlanta, Georgia, or of some other municipal location. Often
times, the first Baptist church to be incorporated in a certain area remains the biggest Baptist church in the area.
This phenomenon probably occurs by virtue of the name of this church coming up first in conversations among the citizens,
listings in the phone books and newspapers, etc. Another interesting phenomenon one sees about First Baptist Church,
especially in older areas, is that the churches buildings and membership are quite old. Again this phenomenon probably
occurs because the First Baptist Church was established early in the life of the town and hence ages right along with the
town and its people. The First Baptist Church is most excellent in one important regard: it is representative of the most
lasting organization this world has ever and will ever see. The Church of Jesus Christ, as taught in the Bible, will
remain forever, even after this entire earthly world is gone.
One important part of the name "First Baptist Church" is that of its prominence on the landscape of American religious life.
The connotations of "First Baptist Church" are many and varied, depending on a person's experience and upbringing. Many
people who grow up Baptist, right up to the present generation, remember the First Baptist Church as being formal in its
worship services, starched in its church furnishings, and remember the people as somewhat churchy. Preachers and deacons
are called Brother George, etc. Many public prayers are prayed in the King James English dialect, etc. Is this bad?
Only if these distinctively First Baptist Church connotations make a person less desirous of discovering the true meaning
of being a Christian: placing their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
As our society continues to grow and develop, few opportunities for creating new towns and cities exist. Will the international
landscape continue to see a new First Baptist Church as people groups form and move and disband? It is unlikely. One can
find a First Baptist Church in almost every town or locale that now exists, and these churches will probably continue to fare
just as well as the townships in which they are located, but there will probably be very few new churches started with the name
First Baptist Church. Is it quite likely to remain a fixture of the fading landscape of American life; it will be here for
sometime but the name First Baptist Church will eventually fade away.