In the winter of 1982 a group of people dreamed of starting a new church in the Belton-Raymore area. The dream became a reality when 22 people began meeting for worship and Bible study in local homes. Seeking guidance from the Blue River Kansas City Association they were led to become a mission church to Sterling Acres Baptist Church on July 14, 1982.
Members began meeting in the old Kinder-Care facility in September of 1982 and on October 24, 1982 Dr. Kenneth Combs became the interim pastor. Dr. Combs held this position for 18 months until Ken Griffith became the first fulltime pastor on July 1, 1984. A new church building was planned and with much excitement, a groundbreaking ceremony was held on April 14, 1985. On February 16, 1986 members held their very first service in the new facility on the current site. The young church family rejoiced in sharing their first worship service in the new facility. The dream of becoming a new church was realized on April 13, 1986 when South Haven Baptist Church became a fully constituted church.
Pastor Curt Fieleke and his family joined the South Haven ministry on September 7, 1986. Many exciting things continued to happen as Curt led the group in ministry and reaching out to the surrounding communities. In March of 1988 we went to two worship services and added the education building giving us the additional space needed at the time for the ever-expanding Sunday school classes.
In 1996 the current worship center was constructed to accommodate our growing church family. Additional staff members have been added as growth and need have dictated including Music Pastor Scott Moots, Executive Pastor Jim Vest, Pastor Sterling Elsbury, office secretary Sue Waldo, administrative assistant Emily Tohlen and most recently Youth Pastor Preston Thompson.
We are grateful to the 22 individuals who had the courage to step out in faith in founding a new church and providing a new opportunity for so many people in this community to know Christ and to worship Him. Once again God is leading South Haven Baptist Church in a new building program to answer his call to reach even more people for Jesus!
Since then:
In 2005 ground was once again broken for South Haven’s most recent building project consisting of 2 phases:
Phase 1: Completion of the worship center, walkway and foyer space.
  A worship facility with seating for 800 and 80 choir members
State of the art sound, lighting and projection systems
Pews, other items and furnishings needed to complete the new worship center
Walkway from the current building to the new center
Spacious and comfortable foyer area and welcome center
Phase 2 will include finishing the Family Life Center, commercial kitchen facility and additional education space.
A multipurpose area for recreation, fellowship or large events
Much needed additional Sunday School classrooms
A large kitchen consisting of commercial quality appliances
Church offices
Conversion of current space into additional classrooms
Building such a large facility was certainly daunting but we believe that God called us to this project for His purpose. Through the years we at South Haven have seen God's faithfulness as the church family and the needs of our community have grown. We are still seeing His hand in the completion of our new building. Over the next three years we trust Him to provide the finances from the sacrificial giving of the SHBC family. God always provides the necessary resources needed to see His will accomplished. He asks each one of us to respond to His call and to His will.
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