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Our first services were held on July 9, 1967 with 24 adults and 10 children present at 13 Meramac Station Rd, which was the
home of Brother James Hamilton. And with this handful of vision minded people, this newly formed mission was organized and
was called "The Valley Park General Baptist Church", on the 22nd day of October, 1967. Shortly therafter, we united
with the ILLMO Association of General Baptists and our Church started the mission of seeking the lost and giving God the glory
for all of it.
Soon, a vacant store building was acquired on highway 141 between Valley Park and Fenton, Missouri,
and the Church was on the move. On December 5, 1970, a plot of ground was purchased for the price of $9500 and the Church
was moved into a basement facility at its present location on Hawkins Place.
On August 11, 1973, it was decided that
the name should be changed and Mt. Olive General Baptist Church finally came into existence. God began to bless the young
Church: by December of that same year, a sanctuary was built and the Church moved from the basement and held its first service
in full light of God's Glory. A piano was donated by Brother and Sister Hamlett; the youth became active in our services;
and our Church was growing so that by November 1983, a new addition was added because we had ran out of class rooms. On September
16, 1984, ground breaking services were held for our new classroom addition and later, in 1986, our gravel parking lot was
paved with asphalt. Then, in 1987, the old basement facility was remodeled and turned into a fellowship hall complete with
kitchen, eating area, and rooms that would serve as classes along the sides. In 1989, a Church sign was put up so that the
whole community could know that God is in the business of blessing those who seek Him. God continued to bless and a new highway
was soon poured directly behind the Church and in the summer of 1996, the upstairs sanctuary was completely remodeled and
turned around in order to better serve the new exposure to the community.
In 1998, our Pastor, Reverend Dennis Bazzell
resigned from his 18 year pastorate and after many years of wonderful spiritual leadership and much prayer, the Church decided
to seek a full time Pastor. So, in September 1999, debt free, the Church called reverend Ron Beaver as our first full time
Pastor and for the first time in our history, the Church is now able to work exclusively on fulfilling God's Great Commission
under the leadership of God's Holy Spirit, and looking forward to God's blessings, as He sees fit to bless us. May God continue
to bless us and may we continue to have a vision for lost Souls!!
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