OUR HISTORY

Towerview Baptist Church traces its history as a church back to 1930, but the story really began 14 years before that. In 1916, the Lansdowne Baptist Church started a mission in a one-room building in the Rosemont Heights subdivision on what is now 49th Street in Washington Park. Rosemont Mission became a church on February 23, 1930. There were 58 charter members, and the first Sunday offering was $9.65. Rosemont Baptist Church would serve as a faithful witness to Christ in the East St. Louis area for over five decades. During that time, the church sent out many pastors and missionaries and planted multiple churches in outlying areas.

In 1982, the members of Rosemont Baptist Church decided to relocate further east to Shiloh. The pastor at the time explained the church's evangelistic motivation, saying, "We felt there was a need in that community. There's no Baptist church in that area. And there's a lot of subdivisions there." The church moved in 1983, taking on the name Towerview Baptist Church and meeting at Whiteside School while a new building was under construction. The first service in the current sanctuary at 2401 Lebanon Avenue was held on October 13, 1984.