University Baptist Church Bloomington, Indiana

     In 1966, Bloomington Baptist Church, the first Southern Baptist Church in town, felt called to start a fledgling congregation to serve the university community.  They met in various location near campus until moving into First Presbyterian Church, on the corner of 6th & Lincoln - which was home to UBC for the next 20 years.  
    
  In those early years, UBC bought the 5 acres of property on East Third Street. They began to save and dream of the day when they would build their own meeting place.  Ground was broken in the spring of 1992 and UBC was finally in her own building a few months later.   

     In just a few months, that dream of forty years ago will be fulfilled as we pay off our mortgage.  How grateful we are for the vision and faithfulness of so many who served here over the years.

      In the years between, our connection with Southern Baptists has ended and we give to global mission projects through the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. We ordain women to preach and pastor.  We are eager for respectful dialogue and friendship with people of other faiths.  We welcome the faithful participation of people from all walks of life, convinced that when we love each other best we please God most. 

 former pastor of UBC, for identifying the man in the picture.  Ron writes, "He is Donald Johnston, a charter member of the church.   He was an engineer working for IU.   He was in charge of all the electrical contracting done on Assembly Hall and the Musical Arts Center.   He gave me a personal tour while they were under construction.  With his wife, Roberta, the McKinnises, and graduate students, they kept alive the vision for UBC and Christ in Bloomington during very hard times in the late 60's and early 70's.   They sacrificed in unbelievable ways to keep the church going.  He is looking at plans for buildings (s!) on the church property on East Third Street.   Don died many years ago in Terre Haute.   Roberta has remarried and is living in Kentucky."  

    At it's best, the name Baptist suggests sacred principles of faith held fast by generations of believers.   
     Soul Liberty is one - it is the conviction that each human soul is solely accountable to God without need of intercessor for confession or forgiveness.  No particular person speaks to God on behalf of others nor on behalf of God to people.  Everyone has the same access to the Divine.  Soul liberty is also sometimes called priesthood of the believer.
      The strict and complete Separation of Church and State is another fundamentally Baptist principle.  While called to be good citizens, our citizenship in God's Kingdom is primary. Baptists throughout history were imprisoned by governments and kicked out of churches for resisting government infringement upon the church or preaching against religious alliances with government. 

 . . . . . threatening to burn the Koran, hate speech, and protesting soldiers' funerals are images too often associated with the name Baptist.  
     Our challenge is to remain authentic to Baptist principles and our local ministry while distinguishing ourselves from brothers and sisters whose understanding of ministry has little in common with our own.

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to build the alumni page to our website.  Any pictures, news or other information you'd like to share is welcome.  Our 50th anniversary is only about 50 months away and we are excited to invite as many UBC'ers as possible to the celebration!