In 2001, we celebrated our 90th anniversary, with a time of fellowship and sharing. The body came together for a dinner at Shadow Mt Clubhouse, and for a worship service Celebrating God’s faithfulness. Many old times and current church members attended.

2001 marked a huge change, not only in the church but in our nation, as the events of Sept 11, 2001 will forever be etched on the memories of our people.

In Sept 2001, our Pastor, Brian Haynes embarked on the Goliath Project. He and his family went to 48 states, praying and serving in each Capitol. The Church pulled together in this time, and became even stronger, as we began a process called Refocus. The goal was to gain an understanding of who we are, and where God was leading. That collective thought process has led us to enhance our worship style and to remodel our facility. We began to recognize areas of need in our church and community, and facilitate ministry to meet those needs.

As our identity become clearer, we saw that The Journey at First Baptist was a name that more clearly reflected who we are and where we are moving as a church, and with the development of a logo, more of the pieces fell into place.

We adopted a revised Church Constitution in 2001, and solidified our Purpose, Mission and Vision for The Journey at First Baptist. 5 committees were formed to guide the church, and Elders were elected to serve and lead.

In April of 2001, after about 8 years of research and discussion, First Baptist Church became a part of the Rocky Mountain Baptist Conference, and the Baptist General Conference. ( Now known as Converge)

With the new constitution in place, the cornerstones of Worship ,Mission, Fellowship, Discipleship, and Stewardship became the focus of the church.

An Awana Program for the youth of the church started in 2000/2001. It has been wonderful to see youth and leaders alike grow and develop and get closer to each other and to God as they follow the principles of AWANA Able Workmen Are Not Ashamed. Beginning with a small group, AWANA has grown to include more than 30 leaders, 85 children, leaders in training and helpers and listeners.

In the Community, Love Inc, supported in great part by the church, has become a clearing house for mobilizing the local churches and agencies to meet the unmet needs of the people of our valley, with food, personal needs, furniture, household goods, and assistance in finding resources to help with other issues. In each case, the good news of Jesus is share in word or action with those who come for assistance.

Celebrate Recovery, a ministry where people can come to work on habits, hurts and hang-ups with God, became a vital part of our ministry. Ivan and Wendy Wooden lead as the group came together and began to see real results in the community, and lives changed as a result of Jesus. Each week CR members come together for worship and bible study, and accountability to each other and to God.

In 2005, Pastor Haynes moved to Iowa and we began the process of calling a new pastor. After looking at many résumés and interviewing candidates, it became clear to the body and the Search Committee that the man for the job was already a member of our Body, and in February 2006, Leonard Browning became pastor of The Journey at First Baptist.

After over 25 years, the Yampa Valley Pregnancy Center is still serving the needs of the community for families with unplanned pregnancies.

By late 2007 it was obvious that we were experiencing rapid growth, and that our facility was getting very crowded.  We started praying about a solution, and implemented a second worship service. Rental of community facilities became more frequent as we looked for ways to accommodate our growing body.

After many months of prayer and planning, we voted to go forward with a building program. Partnering with Building God’s Way and Mischler Construction, ground was broken in June of 2009. During the year of Ministry of construction, God made his presence known over and over, as meals were provided for construction workers and staff, huge amounts of materials and labor were donated, and the building rose up in a matter of months. We owe Jim Dodd, Steve Foster and Larry Schmedeke a debt of gratitude for the countless hours of volunteer time they spent seeing the project through to completion.

The First Celebration Service was held in the new Sanctuary on Feb 14th, 2010, and in May, the new Sanctuary was dedicated to the Lord. The Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting ceremony to open the doors and there was an open house to welcome the community.

We are now in 2011 occupying a beautiful new Sanctuary that can seat about 450, thanks to the work and dedication of our membership who have given their time and expertise to make this a reality. Landscaping is still underway, and remodeling of the old sanctuary to accommodate a nursery and children’s center is in progress. Plans to install an elevator, and make the downstairs accessible are in the works. God has provided for our finances, and debt repayment is ahead of schedule.

Jan 9, 2014 a sprinkler pipe broke in the ceiling of the new sanctuary, ushering in a new normal. It was discovered that the ceiling truss system was failing, with the wood of the scissor trusses bowed like spaghetti. Insurance was contacted, inspectors came and we were not allowed to use our new sanctuary. In the interim, the church met at  the Moffat County High School a couple of blocks from our property.

Finally, after two years of having church at the High School, on Feb 14, 2016, we were back home in our building.