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East Side Baptist
Church began as Brookhaven Missionary
Baptist church on October 14, 1924 with 24 members. The government took
the community of Brookhaven into the Fort
Hood reservation during the
Korean war, forcing the church to move to Killeen. The name was changed at that
time to East Side
Baptist Church.
On July
3, 1952, East Side purchased its first
building. In October, 1953, the congregation began meeting in the East Ward Elementary
School while the building belonging to East
side was moved and rebuilt on Rancier
Avenue, holding their first service in the
newly renovated building on December 3, 1953.
In
1973, the church voted to keep Evangelism as its number one priority. In
order to have more room for growth, the church voted to buy eight and
one-half acres of land on W.S.
Young Drive in November 1978. A new building
was constructed with the first services held in January, 1988.
In June
of 1996, East Side began a ministry to the Killeen
area in the form of "Mission Killeen",
a means of sharing the Gospel while meeting the needs of those in our
community. Today that ministry reaches into the surrounding communities,
as well as Killeen,
meeting needs of food, clothing, household goods, spiritual needs, love
and friendship. God has truly blessed that ministry.
During its
lifetime the church has ministered to thousands. East
Side has served as a mission station. It has sought out the
lost and won them to Christ, then equipped them to win others. With the
help of Uncle Sam, East Side sends
missionaries all over the world. The church came into existence through
vision, faith and sacrifice. It shall continue to greater heights for the
glory of God by the same virtues.
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