Our story 1866-2026 160 years of service
In the early sixties of the nineteenth century, while Negroes were still depressed and burdened with sorrow, and the bonds of slavery were still pressing heavily upon them, a group of settlers who lived south of Broadway and east of Preston banded themselves together for the purpose of holding religious services. They had gone through the hardships of slavery and were about to be given their freedom. They felt that they should give glory and praise to Him who had answered their prayers and the prayers of their forefathers.
Since they had no church or house of worship, they would hold prayer meetings at stated times from house to house. After holding meetings in this manner for a long time they realized that in order to attain real success it was necessary for them to have a leader. They prayed for guidance and finally appealed to Fifth Street Baptist Church to send someone to help and guide them into the paths of Truth.
The church in turn sent Rev. Spencer Taylor who organized them into a church and located them in a carpenter shop on a lot between Breckinridge and Caldwell, Preston and Jackson Streets, where they worshiped for a month or two, then they built a front that faced on Caldwell between Preston and Jackson and called it Caldwell Street Baptist Church. Rev. Taylor built this church. After finishing the church and on the day of dedication, March 19, 1867, the first text used for the Sermon was “Upon this Rock I will Build My Church and the Gates of Hell Shall Not Prevail Against It.
Rev. Taylor's time as pastor was short because he died during a mission to Bardstown. After his death, a call was extended to Rev. J. Simcoe, who accepted and served for some time, still adding strength as time went on. After Rev. Simcoe, a call was extended to Rev. J. M. Harris who accepted and continued to add strength as the years passed.
With Rev. Harris as the pastor, the congregation moved from Caldwell Street to Hancock and Roselane. We find that during the administration of these three pastors, Rev. Taylor, Rev. Simcoe and Rev. Harris, the congregation moved five times, first to Hancock and Roselane; second, Campbell and Chestnut; third Preston and Breckinridge; fourth, Third between Kentucky and Breckinridge; fifth, Lampton between Preston and Jackson where the name was changed from Caldwell Baptist Church to the Lampton Street Baptist Church.
Rev. Harris was pastor about eight years. Then a call was extended to Rev. C.C. Bates. He accepted the call in 1882 and began to add to the membership of the church continually until it was necessary to enlarge the church on Lampton Street. Under this wonderful leader, as the years passed, and the congregation grew larger, the building that was enlarged became too small. Then he and his co-workers began to look for larger quarters, finally locating the building at 538 S. Hancock. It was purchased in June 1902 for $9,000, but we did not take possession until September 1904. We were in that building a number of years and having great success when a great storm or cyclone came and did great damage. Then again the pastor called his co-workers together and in a few months the building was ready with greater improvements than it had before. It was completely paid for within a few years.
Rev. C.C. Bates was pastor for thirty-two years, saving many souls during his tenure. His successful pastorage ended with his death on June 3, 1914. He was a pastor among pastors and always sought to lead or be among the leaders.
We were without a pastor then for about six months. Many applied for the position but during this time we continued to pray and ask for guidance. God finally directed us to one of our sons, who had been baptized and brought up under our former pastor Rev. Bates. That person was the late J. M. Williams. After pastoring for several years, he wanted a larger and more modern church. In 1922, he called his co-workers to remodel the old building into a beautiful edifice, costing $82,000. The mortgage was burned in 1930.
Death ended the pastorate of Rev. Williams on November 22, 1941. His passing left us again without a leader. There were many who came forward to lead us, but after much prayer and meditation on our part, God again directed us to one of our own sons who had labored and been brought up with us. That was none other than Rev. Charles H. Owens, who was called May 22, 1942. In addition to steadily building our membership, Rev. Owens was adding continually to our land holdings around the church.
As Jesus was the world’s greatest wayside minister, so was Rev. Owens as he led Lampton in feeding the hungry, comforting the sick, those in sorrow and redeeming the lost. He taught the Lampton congregation to serve and spread the good news of God’s love for man. In 1966, we celebrated our 100th birthday. It was not until Lampton had established the “Old Folks Home” and the C. H. Owens Educational Building became a reality that he decided to retire. Rev. Walter Ballinger served in his place until after much deliberation, on January 9, 1970, Rev. James Miller became our seventh pastor. Rev. Owens, after 27 years of faithful service, passed on to Glory, February 18, 1971.
Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the leadership of Pastor James E. Miller, we flourished in every area of Kingdom Building. In addition to increasing our membership, Lampton added to the land holdings already acquired under Rev. Owens and that vision proved to be monumental in our being prepared to meet the challenge that was to present itself.
After many rumors, on October 29, 1973, we were officially notified that the City of Louisville would condemn all our properties including our place of worship to expand its medical center. After much litigation it was determined that we had to relocate. We had purchased a site on Caldwell between Hancock and Jackson streets with the idea of building a new place of worship. Plans were set in motion, but God directed us to another building located at 850 South Fourth Street in the heart of downtown Louisville. In June 1976, we purchased the building from the First Christian Church and were able to pay $750,000 cash for our new place of worship. Although the 538 building has been torn down, the C.H. Owens Educational Building still stands and is named “The Lampton Center”.
The new millennium brought many changes to Lampton; along with the Sons of Lampton we now have the Daughters of Lampton. Women have come to the pulpit. The first women called in the ministry from the Lampton Baptist Church were: Min. Mollie Denny, Min. Arnetta Johnson and Min. Doris F.(Lyons) Miller. They were soon joined by Min. Queen Taylor, Min. Marie Jones and Min. Kim Johnson. God is moving in our church. The Christian Education and Youth Ministry established Wednesday Bible Study classes for all ages and the recreation division was expanded and many basketball and other sports memories were made.
Many auspicious occasions were held and hosted by Lampton during this period including visits from Muhammad Ali, Presidential Candidate Rev. Jesse Jackson, the 100th Anniversary of Central High School, The National Baptist Convention, The Central District Annual Session, The Youth March for Christ and the Midwest Missionary Baptist Youth Conference just to name a few.
Dr. James E. Miller served faithfully as Pastor from 1970 to 2012 and experienced many changes and blessings. Rev. George McMillan who was our Director of Christian Education became our Interim Pastor. With his theme of Healing, Kneeling and Dealing, he led us through a difficult year.
In February of 2014, after a diligent and stressful search, our heavenly Father has led us to our 8th pastor, Robert L. Lyons. After 10 years of faithful leadership, teaching, and dedication, Pastor Lyons was called from labor to reward on September 1, 2024. In 2025, Rev. Dr. Kilen K. Gray was appointed as our Interim Pastor and served the congregation faithfully until March 2026. During that season, God continued to guide and sustain His church.
Rev. Dr. David O. Miller was prayerfully called as the ninth pastor of the Lampton congregation at a historic moment as the church approaches its 160th Church Anniversary; raised in Lampton, he is the son of Rev. Dr. James E. Miller, the church’s seventh pastor, and continues a legacy of faithful service, preaching his inaugural sermon as Senior Pastor on Easter Sunday, April 5, 2026, and later leading the congregation in celebrating its 160th Church Anniversary on April 26, 2026, marking a significant and divinely timed milestone in the church’s history. Rooted in this rich legacy and inspired by the faithfulness of those who have gone before us, the historic Lampton Baptist Church embraces the charge of Joshua 1:1–9 to be strong and courageous, confident in God’s abiding presence; with gratitude for the past and faith in the promise ahead, Lampton moves forward with clarity and conviction, declaring, “Legacy Behind Us, Promise Before Us,” as we continues to journey toward our destiny in Jesus’ name.
WHAT WE BELIEVE
Articles of Faith for the Lampton Baptist Church
The Lampton Baptist Church has adopted confessions of faith as a witness to the world and as accountability to various doctrines. These doctrines are essential to the Baptist tradition of faith and practice. We are challenged to express the truth as revealed in Scripture and to bear witness to Jesus Christ, who is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life".
It is the purpose of the following articles of Christian faith to set forth certain teachings which we, The Lampton Baptist Church believe.
I. The Scriptures
The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any errors. Therefore, all scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore Is, and will remain to the end of world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All scripture is a testimony to Christ, who Is himself the focus of divine revelation.
II. God
There Is one and only one living and true God. He is the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. God is all powerful and all knowing. His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, Including the future decisions of his free creatures. To him we owe the highest love, reverent, and obedience. The eternal truth, God reveals himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit with distinct personal attributes , but without division of nature, essence, or being.
III. Man
Man is the special creation of god, made in his own image. He created them male and female as the crowning work of his creation. The gift of gender is thus part of the goodness of God's creation. In the beginning man was innocent of sin and was endowed by his creator with freedom of choice. By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin to the human race. Through the temptation of satan man transgressed the command of God, fell from his original innocence whereby his posterity inherit a nature and an environment inclined toward sin. Therefore, as soon as they are capable of moral action, they became transgressors and are under condemnation. Only the grace of God can bring man into his holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God.
IV. Salvation
Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.
V. God's Purpose of Grace
Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. It is consistent with the free agency of man, and comprehends all the means in connection with the end. It is the glorious display of God's sovereign goodness, and is infinitely wise, holy, and unchangeable. It excludes boasting and promotes humility.
All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end. Believers may fall into sin through neglect and temptation, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, and bring reproach on the cause of Christ and temporal judgments on themselves. However, they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.
VI. The Church
A New Testament Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel, observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. In such a congregation each member is responsible for and accountable to Christ as Lord. Its scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. Both men and women are gifted for service in the church. The New Testament speaks also of the church as the Body of Christ which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages, believers from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation.
VII. Baptism and the Lord's Supper
Christian baptism Is the immersion of a believer In water In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith In a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour. It also symbolizes the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It Is a testimony to his faith In the final resurrection of the dead. Being a church ordinance, It Is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper Is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of tho church, through the partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate his second coming.
VIII. The Lord's Day
The first day of the week is the Lord's Day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should include exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private. Activities on the Lord's Day should be commensurate with the Christian's conscience under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
IX. The Kingdom
The Kingdom of God includes both His general sovereignty over the universe and His Particular Kingship over men who willfully acknowledge Him as King. Particularly the Kingdom is the realm of salvation into which men enter by trustful, childlike commitment to Jesus Christ. Christians ought to pray and to labor that the Kingdom may come and God's will be done on earth. The full consummation of the Kingdom awaits the return of Jesus Christ and the end of this age.
X. Last Things
God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth. Then the dead will be raised and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell, the place of everlasting punishment. The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.
XI. Evangelism and Missions
It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations. The new birth of man's spirit by God's Holy Spirit means the birth of love for others. Missionary effort on the part of all rests thus upon a spiritual necessity of the regenerate life, and is expressly and repeatedly commanded in the teachings of Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ has commanded the preaching of the gospel to all nations. It is the duty of every child of God to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by verbal witness undergirded by a Christian lifestyle, and by other methods in harmony with the Gospel of Christ.
XII. Education
Christianity is the faith of enlightenment and intelligence. All the treasures of wisdom and Knowledge abide in Jesus Christ. All sound learning is therefore, a part of our Christian heritage. The new birth opens all human faculties and creates a thirst for knowledge. Moreover, the cause of education in the Kingdom of Christ is co-ordinate with the causes of missions and general benevolence, and should receive along with these, the liberal support of the churches. An adequate system of Christian education is necessary to a complete spiritual program for Christ's people.
XIII.Stewardship
God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual. We owe God all that we have and all that we are. Christians have a spiritual indebtedness to the whole world, a holy trusteeship in the gospel, and a binding stewardship in their possessions. They are therefore under obligation to serve him with their time, talents, and material possessions. They should recognize all these as entrusted to them to use for the glory of God and for helping others. According to the scriptures, Christians should contribute of their means cheerfully, regularly, systematically, proportionately, and liberally for the advancemart of the Redeemer's cause on earth.
XIV.Cooperation
Christ's people should, as time requires, plan associations and conventions that will best get cooperation for the Kingdom of God. Such organizations have no power over one another or over the churches. These organizations are voluntary. They are to make suggestions planned to get, to join, and to direct the interests of our people in the most successful way. Members of New Testament churches should help each other to spread the missionary, educational, and kind ministries of Christ's Kingdom. This should be done together to add to Christ's Kingdom. The meaning of Christian unity in the New Testament is spiritual agreement and voluntary help by many groups of Christ's people to reach a common purpose. Cooperation is wanted between the many Christian denominations when the purpose is right Cooperation is wanted when there is no ignoring of the sense of right and wrong. Cooperation is wanted when there is no giving up of loyalty to Christ and His Word as explained in the New Testament.
XV.The Christian and the Social Order
All Christians have a responsibility to try to make the will of Christ first in our own lives and in the world. The ways and methods used to improve society and to create righteousness among men can be very helpful. These changes are helpful only if they come because of the rebirth of the person by the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ. Just like Christ, Christians should be against racial discrimination, every form of greed, self interest, and evil, and all forms of sexual wrongdoing, induding adultery, homosexuality, and pornography. We should work to provide for orphans, the poor, the abused, the old, the weak, and the sick. We should speak for the unborn. We should insist on the holiness of a human life from its creation to natural death. Every Christian should try to bring business, government. and all people under the influence of righteousness, truth, and brotherly love. To do this Christians should be ready to work with all men of good will in any good cause. Christians should always be careful to act in love without giving up their loyalty to Christ and His truth.
XVI.Peace and War
It is the duty of Christians to try to find peace with all men. In keeping with the character and teachings of Christ, Christians should do everything they can to put an end to war. The true solution for war is the gospel of the Lord. The first need of the world is to accept His teachings in all the actions of men and nations. The world needs to apply His law of love to everything they do. Christian people all over the world should pray for the time to come when the Prince of Peace will be in control.
XVII. Religious Liberty
God alone is Lord of what is right and wrong. Man's sense of what is right and wrong is free from the rules and commandments of men. These rules and commandments may be different from His Word. They may not be found in His Word. Church and state should be separate. The state owes protection to every church. The state owes complete freedom to every church in seeking spiritual matters. In giving this freedom, no religious group or denomination should be given any special treatment by the state. The national government was planned by God. It is the duty of Christians to give faithful obedience in all things that are not against the known will of God. The church should not expect the national government to do its work. The gospel of Christ considers only spiritual methods to reach its purposes. The state has no right to require punishment for religious beliefs of any kind. The state has no right to require taxes for the support of any forms of religion. A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal. This suggests the right of free communication with God by all men. This also suggests the right to start and spread religious opinions without trouble from the government.
XVIII. The Family
God has planned the family as the first institution of the world. It is made up of persons joined to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption.
Marriage is the joining of one man and one woman with the promise of being faithful to one another for a lifetime. Marriage is God's special gift. Marriage shows the union between Christ and His church. Marriage gives the man and the woman the way for intimate friendship. Marriage is the way of sexual expression according to the main beliefs in the Bible. Marriage is the way for increasing the human race.
The husband and wife are of the same worth before God. Both are created in God's likeness. The marriage relationship shows the way God relates to His people. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given duty to provide for, to protect, and to guide his family. A wife is to submit herself with kindness to the servant leadership of her husband. Awife submits just as the church willingly submits to the leadership of Christ. She is made in the likeness of God. Her husband is also made in the likeness of God. This makes the wife and the husband equals. She has the God-given duty to respect her husband. She is to serve as his helper in running the household and supporting the next generation.
Children, from the moment of creation, are a blessing and inheritance from the Lord. Parents are to show to their children God's example for marriage. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and right values. Parents are to guide their children to make choices based on truths in the Bible. Parents are to guide their children by living a life faithful to God. Parents are to guide their children with loving discipline. Children are to respect and obey their parents.