LEXINGTON – For a church in western Missouri celebrating its bicentennial in 2025, First Baptist Church, Lexington, is undergoing a remarkable aging process.
“It’s 200 years old, but it’s getting younger,” according to Pastor Russell Peirce.
“Our growth is coming from younger people, so our median age is getting lower,” he says.
Peirce says that, in the church’s history, there have been “seasons of dry spells but also seasons of refreshment and revival.” He sees the church now in a season of renewal.
John Brittain, mission strategist for the West Central Baptist Association, agrees.
He says FBC Lexington “is becoming younger because they have a vibrant pastor in the church.” He describes the church as multi-generational, with active Sunday School classes for all ages.
Both men say FBC Lexington is seeing an influx of members from its outreach and community involvement. They also attribute the church’s work to the MBC’s Resound Network, since 2020, to helping FBC Lexington experience renewal.
“It’s very friendly,” Brittain says. “People make you feel welcome.” And Peirce, he adds, “is high energy. He’s a go-getter.”
Sunday mornings now see about 130 attending, up from 90 since 2022. New ministries continue to open and others are strengthened.
Peirce came to the church as an associate pastor in 2022 and became its lead pastor in 2023. He credits the church’s deacons for much of the membership gains. “A lot of the outreach events in particular are usually deacon started and led.”
He says the church emphasizes discipleship to create “covenant fellowship,” which engages people in relationships to mentor others.
First Lexington has a number of ministries and programs that impact church members and community residents.
The church has four LIFE groups of 10-20 members each that meet during the week. While the Sunday School focuses on more intensive Bible study, Peirce says LIFE groups tend to be more relational for men, women and youth.
The largest group of about 20 participants uses the Celebrate Recovery program to focus on individuals in substance abuse recovery.
Out of that group a church member has started, in his house, a community prison ministry to help former inmates move back into the community. Peirce says the program is still being organized, but efforts could include “opening a men’s house for men that are in recovery and also transitioning out of the prison system and need a place to go.”
The ministry includes “a 12-month discipleship program that would provide job services and provide for (former inmates) a place to live while they go through that program.”
Peirce says one gentleman has already been baptized through that program and is actively working through his year-long discipleship.
He sees the possibility later of a similar ministry for women.
Peirce says the city of about 4,700 has an influx of homeless individuals in the spring and fall from Kansas City, about 45 minutes to the west.
“We are now doing a blanket drive for the homeless.” Peirce hopes the church can then go into downtown Kansas City and into the local community to minister to the homeless.
Brittain says that Peirce has a lot of ministry ideas and isn’t afraid to collaborate with other groups in projects. This past summer FBC Lexington joined with First Baptist Church, Oak Grove, for a combined youth event.
In November 2026 the church plans to send a team to work on a school-building project with IMB missionaries in Puebla, Mexico, southeast of Mexico City.
This past summer, the church had members on mission in Jamaica. “We built houses while ministering to the homeless there,” Peirce said.
The church hosts an annual summer picnic and fall ice cream social in Lexington for the community. It also handed out free water bottles and promoted Celebrate Recovery at a city summer festival this year.
Church clerk, historian, deacon, and board member James Garner says what the church is doing today is typical of its history. According to Garner, the church has always had good pastors and practiced outreach.
He counts seven churches in western Missouri established or sponsored by First Lexington. It has licensed and/or ordained over a dozen men to gospel service. It helped start the WMU in Missouri and was instrumental in founding William Jewell College in nearby Liberty.
In the 1850s the church donated its parsonage to help start the Baptist Female College, which educated women in Lexington for about 50 years.
Between 1956-1970 First Lexington broadcast its services over a local radio station. Today, it uses Facebook to reach members and its community through livestreams of Sunday services.
“When people get their hearts right, the Lord brings the increase,” Peirce says. “It’s a blessing to see God bring people to the (church) door.”