WEST BADEN – The sounds of ringing bells, joyous singing, and heartfelt preaching marked the jubilant rededication of West Baden Springs’ First Baptist Church, following a seven-year effort to save the modest landmark, located just a block from the historic West Baden Springs Hotel.
The premiere of the documentary “A Labor of Love” portrays the founding, growth, decline, and rebirth of the First Baptist Colored Church of West Baden Springs and the people involved in each state of the church’s development. It will air on Sunday, August 20th at 4 p.m. at the West Baden Hotel. A question-and-answer period will immediately follow. The event is free to attend.
The film will also be shown on Sunday, August 27th at 3 p.m. at the Monroe County Library in Bloomington. The event is free to attend.
“A labor of Love” is a common cliche, but the words really do describe this film. The original church was built over a hundred years ago by black volunteers who needed their own spiritual home. Over the decades it served the West Baden community until it couldn’t. The neglected church deteriorated to the point where it needed to be saved, and it was the love of the local community that kept it from collapsing.
The restoration was not just of the church building, but of the spiritual life that resides within. A revival. As Liz Mitchell, a multi-award-winning journalist and historian, say “The walls are talking now.”
The story will preserve the legacy of the largely African-American community that lived in French Lick and West Baden Springs. At the turn of the century, this church was the cornerstone of the local African-American community. It survived and flourished, despite the great depression, floods, and racial conflicts.
The church has seen a miraculous transformation from its plight in the early 1990s when the last surviving parishioner of the historically black congregation deeded the property to the West Baden Historical Society. For nearly a decade, the society used the historic church to share the story of the area’s Black community and its contribution to the Springs Valley resort towns.
West Baden Springs Hotel owner Lee Sinclair donated the land for the church, a more practical than philanthropic move recognizing the beneficial role such an institution would play in the lives of his workforce – the Black waiters, bellboys, and porters recruited to work at the grand West Baden and French Lick hotels. The congregation built a white-frame Gothic Revival church in 1920, and during that segregated era, it became the thriving center of Black social and religious culture in French Lick and West Baden.
When the historical society disbanded, it deeded the property to the Town of West Baden, which had no success in selling the building. By 2014 the church’s poor condition landed it on Indiana Landmarks’ 10 Most Endangered list.
Saving angels appeared in the form of a regional group of faith leaders. The Southeastern District Association of the Indiana Missionary Baptist State Convention bought the church from the town council for a dollar and launched an effort to revive the significant landmark.
Twice a week, sometimes more often, volunteers from Bloomington’s Second Baptist Church and other congregations made the trek to West Baden to tackle repairs. Outside, they scraped and painted clapboard and helped restore the church’s bell and tower. Inside, volunteers repaired walls and windows, refinished pews, installed new flooring, and updated mechanical systems. A striking 1880s stained glass window from a demolished church in Terre Haute now serves as a focal point in the chancel.
On August 7, 2022, congregants and community members gathered for a long-anticipated rededication ceremony. “It’s been a long journey, but a labor of love,” said Rev. Dr. Bruce Rose, Pastor of Bloomington’s Second Baptist Church.
“The Lord intended for us to be here and opened doors along the way,” added Rev. Rose, who led the West Baden Church Renewal Project on behalf of the 18-church organization of Missionary Baptist churches in southeastern Indiana.
