Wealthy Street Baptist Church

Wealthy Park Baptist Church is an American church, located in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

History

Originally known as the Wealthy Avenue Baptist Church, the congregation called Oliver Willis Van Osdel to become its pastor in 1909. Van Osdel had pastored the church years before, but when the congregation refused to follow his lead and erect a new building, he had left for Spokane, Washington. Upon returning to Wealthy Avenue, Van Osdel led the church through the construction of the new building. He also made Wealthy Street into one of the capitals of the fundamentalist movement. Van Osdel was one of the founders of the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches.

The church was pastored for forty years by the Rev. Dr. David Otis Fuller, a King James Only movement proponent.

It was the birthplace to Grand Rapids Baptist College, a predecessor to what is now called Cornerstone University, and served as its home from 1941 to 1964.

External links

• wealthypark.org, the church's official website
• Wealthy Park Baptist Church(Grand Rapids, Mich.) Records, 1892-1982 at the Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan