Shamokin Online MuseumThe Welsh Baptists of Shamokin enjoyed religious worship for some time as a mission of the Ashland congregation, and erected a frame church building on the east side of Rock street between Clay and Webster.
In May, 1884, they were organized as a church by Rev. W. G. Watkins, who became their pastor but resigned in the following year; the membership then united with the English Baptist and Welsh Congregational churches.
No effort was made to form a Baptist church at Shamokin until 1870, when Rev. A. B. Still, pastor at Sunbury, preached at Shamokin occasionally, and on September 3rd of that year a meeting of thirty- two persons with letters of dismissal from the churches at Sunbury, Danville, Trevorton, and Shamokin township was held, at which it was decided to issue a call for a council formally to constitute them a church. Pursuant to this call a council met on the 15th of September, 1870, and resolved to recognize them as the “First Baptist Church of Shamokin.”
The following were the first officers:
Among the pastors and supplies prior to the year 1884 were Reverends Still, Johnson, Rush, Brensinger, Nathan Thomas, O. R. Thomas, and Giles. Rev. W. G. Watkins, the present pastor, assumed charge in April, 1884; after considerable search he found six persons who considered themselves members, but accessions were numerous and frequent, and in 1890 the present church edifice, a substantial two-story brick structure on Lincoln street, was erected. It was dedicated on the 21st of December, 1890, Reverends J. H. Harris, Ph. D., and J. Green Miles officiating. A flourishing Sunday school is connected with this church.