Two Baptist Military Families and Eight Girls
During the summer of 1967, two Baptist military families living in Kodiak became concerned because there was no Southern Baptist church on the island where their girls could attend Girl’s Auxiliary. The families discussed the possibility of beginning the mission organization, even though there was no church. The mothers visited the Alaska Baptist Convention office and asked Louise Yarbrough, WMU Secretary, “Is it possible to have a GA without having a church?” Louise replied, “I’ve never heard of it, but I’m sure you can.” They invited Louise to come to Kodiak to meet with them. Other families were contacted by the Ottis Williams and the William Perrys and on September 19, 1967, 21 people met in the Williams home to hear Louise Yarbrough report on Southern Baptist work in Alaska. As the group sang favorite hymns and prayed together, they felt led to form a Southern Baptist fellowship and set a date for a second meeting. Some confessed that they had been praying for years for such a group. They were further encouraged by a one hundred dollar check from the Calvary Baptist Church in Anchorage which Miss Yarbrough presented to them.
Southern Baptist Fellowship
A combination of fellowship dinner and organizational meeting was held on October 28, 1967, at the Buskin Beach House. Allen Meeks, State Religious Education Secretary, assisted the group in organizing and electing officers. On November 5, 1967, the Baptist Fellowship met at the Kodiak Electric Association auditorium and voted to form a Southern Baptist Church. A name was chosen and date set: on December 3, 1967, the Frontier Baptist Church was constituted with 34 members, all military. E.W. Hunke, Executive Secretary of the Alaska Baptist Convention, was asked to serve as interim pastor.
Frontier Baptist Church
Ray Hustead (Trudy) was called as the first pastor of Frontier, and they arrived on July 21, 1968. Ray served until 1974 and developed a “military fellowship.” When the Naval base closed down, it almost wiped out the church. Don Swafford arrived in July 1974, to the church with six members – three women and three teenage girls. There were seven in Sunday School the first month and four of these were the Swafford family.
Church Growth
During the next five years, the church became indigenous to Kodiak; the attendance grew to a high of 84 with an average attendance of 65. A beautiful church building was constructed and on the tenth anniversary, December 3 1977, the church moved into its new facility with 84 in attendance. The church secured a loan from the National Bank of Alaska which led to an agreement between the bank and the Alaska Baptist Convention, making it easier for other new churches to secure church loans for building first units. Don Swafford resigned in April, 1979.
John Allen, State Missions Director, served the church for the next six months until Gene Lueders (Mary), a recent graduate from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, arrived in 1980. The church continued a slow but steady growth. Gene resigned in June 1988. Doug Edwards served as interim pastor until Jack Hulsey (Evelyn), from San Antonio, Texas, arrived in the fall of 1990. The 1995 records showed that there were 22 resident members, Sunday School enrollment was 20, morning worship attendance was about 40, and the attendance at evening worship was about 20.
At this time, the church was also involved in an outreach to the logging community of Danger Bay and the community of Chiniak, through one of the church’s stalwart members, Pete Olsen, Jr. When Pete went home to be with the Lord in 1995, Frontier’s ministry outreach to Danger Bay and Chiniak ceased as well.
Jack integrated well into the community of Kodiak, and the church continued to grow. He was known by most of the community, and could be found many mornings having breakfast with other community members at King’s Diner. He also built relationships in the community through his other vocation as a welder. Jack faithfully served as pastor of the church until his death on October 29, 2005.
Frontier – A Solid History and A Bright Future
After Jack’s passing, the church began the process of seeking and calling their next pastor. Faithful members continued the work and ministry of the church for the next year and a half, taking on increased leadership roles in the administration and spiritual life of the church. Finally, in the summer of 2007, Gary Elmore and his wife, Candy, answered God’s call on their lives and arrived in Kodiak to pastor the church. Gary continues to serve as pastor today, and looks forward to celebrating ten years with the church this summer.
Gary brought to Frontier a renewed desire to reach out to the community and island with Christ’s love. To that end, Gary founded Kodiak Island Outreach, a ministry designed to bring Kodiak’s churches together to meet people’s needs on the island in order to open up opportunities for the gospel. KIO has a very active presence around the island, providing opportunities for followers of Christ in Kodiak to share and show Christ’s love on the island.
Gary has brought stability and health to the church, which was much needed after their prolonged stint without a pastor. The church is now experiencing a resurgence as people are increasingly motivated not to just go to church, but to actually be the church together. As the church nears its 50th anniversary, there is so much to be thankful for. The church’s history is a testimony to God’s faithfulness, and as the church looks to what’s ahead, the future looks bright. The church eagerly looks forward to seeing God glorified in and through the church in the years to come.