In June, 1944 Rev. W.A. Fuson, local missionary for the Westfield Baptist Association, came to Marshall and held a 10 day tent revival on Pine Street. On July 9, 1944, a council of 30 members from Mill Creek and Freedom Baptist Churches met with those interested in a church in Marshall. A Sunday School was organized July 16th and the church began to grow and live. Doctrinally the church is committed to the Baptist Faith and Message as subscribed to by the Southern Baptist Convention. A sizeable portion of the regular income is given to the support of The Home and Foreign Mission programs of the Illinois Baptist State Association and the Southern Baptist Convention.









The Marshall Missionary Baptist Church was instituted with 12 charter members including Rev. and Mrs. Fuson. Living charter members are: Joan Graham Gamm, Catherine Low and Stella Cooper Malott.


Pictured is Joan Gamm.








The group met in the Odd Fellows Hall until the Spring of 1945 when a yellow house was purchased on Third and Archer Streets. In 1947 the house was raised and a basement begun. It was dedicated January 9, 1949 by Rev. Dr. Noel M. Taylor, Executive Secretary of the Illinois Baptist State Association. Plans were presented for the parsonage September 16, 1951, and the house was dedicated debt free in January of 1953. The auditorium was completed in August 1956 and the mortgage burned on June 20, 1964. On October 7, 1973 the church broke ground for a new educational wing and fellowship hall, it was dedicated on August 18, 1974. The renovation of the auditorium was finished in 1990 with a dedication and 46th Anniversary Celebration on July 8, 1990. The church celebrated 50 years in July, 1994.

The morning worship service of the church was broadcast over WKZI am radio from February 1966 through September 1970. From 1960 through the early 1980's Marshall Baptist had a regular Sunday afternoon ministry at the Clark County jail.

Through the years the church has been served by several pastors. They include:

W.A. Fuson	1944-1949
S.S. Sprague	1949-1949
William B. Fuson	1949-1952
Dee Speer	1952-1953
Clyde Campbell	1954-1967
Gilbert Waud	1967-1972
Roger Ellsworth	1972-1974
William B. Fuson	1974-1982
Marshall Kennedy	1982-1984
Gene Ellis	1984-1994
Ken Haak, Youth & Music	1997-2000
Brian Fuller	1994-2001
Robert Flatt	2002-2006
Paul Cooper	2007-Present

Early Postcard