About
Our History
In 1843
Liberty was a small town on the edge of the American frontier. A regional religious conflict over missions was raging when a band of 12 individuals began a church to support the missions cause. They chose the name “Second” to avoid any connection to the existing anti-missions Baptist church of Liberty.
In its first 85 years, the church experienced periods of growth, but there were immense economic challenges, the Civil War, and a tornado (1883) and fire (1920) that destroyed the church’s first two houses of worship. After the fire, the congregation built a much larger sanctuary and education building to facilitate growth.
Stability and growth
As an emerging leader in Missouri and Southern Baptist Conventions, and with a strong relationship to William Jewell College, the church attracted gifted pastors and expanded its missions focus and ministries throughout the 20th Century. Pastors Bill Link and Dub Steincross, whose tenures spanned 52 years, created stability and growth from 1947-1999, including the addition of two education buildings and ministerial staff positions.
A new path
By the 1980s, rifts were developing in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) over theological issues and biblical interpretation. As they did at their beginning, church members chose a new path focused on missions, as well as the historic Baptist principles of local church autonomy, priesthood of the believer, and soul freedom. This led to Second Baptist helping start the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship in the early 1990s. By 2001, Second ended its more than 150-year ties with both the Southern Baptist and Missouri Baptist conventions.
Second Baptist has become known for offering both traditional and contemporary worship settings, as well as its annual observance of the Advent and Lenten seasons. It has a strong music ministry and houses one of the finest church organs in the Kansas City area. Youth and children’s ministries are vital, along with Second Friends Preschool.
Renewed mission
For 180+ years, Second has remained true in its commitment to missions. Second Baptist is responsible for the formation of more than 30 area churches, the creation of Meals on Wheels Liberty, In As Much Ministries, national and international outreach efforts in Belarus and longstanding work with the Lakota on South Dakota’s Cheyenne River Reservation.
As senior pastor since 2009, Jason Edwards is leading the church into a renewed era of ministry and purpose. Second Baptist launched a pastoral residency program in 2019 and unanimously affirmed its commitment as a church of welcome, inclusion, and belonging in 2025.