Prospect Ave. Baptist

The Rev. Tim Schultz, pastor for Harris Hill Mennonite Church in Clarence NY, wrote this note about Prospect Ave. Baptist Church.

I attended Prospect as a child and my parents grew up in the church there, when it was quite a prominent congregation downtown. Currently it is a Spanish/English congregation with a Spanish pastor. On the cover of an old "Prospect News" I found in my file is this statement:

"Prospect is the oldest Baptist Church extant in the City of Buffalo, its doors open continuously for 119 years [News dated 1987]; a Gospel Lighthouse on the corner of Prospect and Georgia, with its Constitution and Covenant virtually unchanged since 1868."

So Prospect was established in 1868. I believe the cornerstone of the sanctuary part reads 1881. A former pastor, Chivers, has a nice gravesite at Forest Lawn which mentions Prospect. Another former Prospecter, John Peachey, is buried there too--he was, I think, the head of Loblaws, a major food chain. Another little note, the great world-known preacher of the past century, Harry Emerson Fosdick, who went on to Riverside Church in NYC mentions in his memoir sitting in the first row at Prospect as a child while his father led the singing.

Just one more item I thought of. Back in the 60's, I think it was, they even did a movie for Prospect. Was it called, "Prospect in Action?" It was a nice overview of the activities of this once active church.

Ted Helt Jr. sent me a letter he wrote with his childhood memories of Prospect . Click on the arrow to read Ted's letter and see interior photos of the church.
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In 1867 Prospect street was known as Ninth Street.