Sioux Falls church marks 150 years while planning for new location

The First Baptist choir performs on a recent Sunday morning

By Jill Callison
Pigeon 605

For 150 years, First Baptist Church has both seen change and created change.

The church, part of the American Baptist Churches USA denomination, has altered Sioux Falls almost since its beginning.

The University of Sioux Falls? It started in the First Baptist basement. When Martin Luther King Jr. visited the city, although he was unwelcome in a hotel, First Baptist members warmly welcomed him. When Sioux Falls’ young people needed a place to gather, the church started The Coffee House at 22nd Street and Minnesota Avenue.

Evangelist Billy Graham brought a crusade to Sioux Falls in the 1980s, and First Baptist leadership led the movement to bring him here. The former Children’s Inn, now the Children’s Home Society Shelter for Family Safety, the addiction treatment center Glory House and even the YMCA — all three depended on First Baptist when starting up.