The Wellington Free Will Baptist Church was founded in 1959.

Roe Messner built the original building at 1219 North Plum. Messner would go on to build a total of 1,700 churches, and ours was the very first. Brother Wayne Bookout served as the founding pastor, overseeing the early days in Wellington and taking an active role in the church’s survival for four decades.

In one seven-year span, the church had seven different pastors. By the late 1990s, attendance had fallen to just four people.

Around that time, Brother Wayne learned about a young man in Wichita, Kansas who received the call to preach. At only 28 years old this young man felt the power of God in an old cottonwood grove and revival started in his life. Brother Wayne happened to visit the Westside Free Will Baptist Church on the night that young preacher gave his very first message. That was the start of a long friendship between Brother Wanye Bookout and Brother Zane Brooks. Soon after Pastor Zane began helping by “pulpit supplying” in small churches around Kansas.

After only five opportunities to preach, Brother Wayne approached Zane about becoming the lead pastor of the Wellington Free Will Baptist Church. With much prayer and consideration, Brother Zane and his family took a leap of faith and came to Wellington in January of 1999.

At the time, Sister Inez Russ was caring for the building. Many times she paid the church’s bills with her own money. Some Sundays she would show up for church and no pastor or others would join her, so she would simply pray there alone.

When the Brooks family arrived, the pay was fifty dollars a week. Pastor Zane jokes he would have paid them to let him start. With Pastor Zane, Charlotte, Crosby, and Cheyenne joining the church, the congregation doubled overnight—from four people to eight!

Over the next few years, the church began to grow. With the Lord’s help, evangelistic preaching, and a congregation with a passion to see souls saved, the church soon outgrew its sanctuary.

Many remember revivals where people stood outside the building, windows open, just to hear the Word of God being preached. The original cinder-block sanctuary held eighty people, and before long the pews were overflowing.

In 2003, the church voted to build a new sanctuary on the property that would seat 300 people. In 2004, that building was completed and ready for worship.

From 2004 to 2013, the church continued to see souls saved and lives changed. During those nine years, the congregation once again grew until the 300-seat sanctuary was filled.

Therefore the church again voted to purchase property at 802 East 16th Street. The plan was to convert an old Walmart building into the church’s new place of worship, which now seats 600 people. The building cost 1.25 million dollars.

After an extensive remodeling process the building was completed in 2017. On April 23rd of that year, the excited congregation walked 1.8 miles across town to the new place of worship!

Since that time, the church has continued to grow, with souls regularly being added to the Kingdom of God. Over thirty pastors and church leaders have either grown up in this church or served here, which speaks to the tremendous support and stewardship of this congregation over the years. God’s faithfulness has truly led The Wellington Free Will Baptist Church to continue the good work He began over 67 years ago!

The rest of the story is yet to be written; but we hope you will join us on this journey with us, let’s see what God is going to do next!