Rumor Has It

Is First Baptist Church controlling Downtown development? 

Words by Ambar Ramirez

It’s one of the oldest and largest Baptist congregations in Jacksonville. And probably one of the most influential. Whether you were born and raised in Jacksonville or moved to this bold city in recent years, chances are you know of First Baptist Church. 

Founded by co-pastors James McDonald and Ryan Frier, this megachurch’s roots go back to 1838, when it was known as Bethel Baptist Church. The first gatherings were held at a local plantation called Mother Sam’s until 1861, when a permanent location was established Downtown on Laura Street, where they still hold property today. Bethel Baptist Church remained interracial until the Civil War, at which point the white members took the Black congregation members to court over ownership of the church to segregate it permanently. The court ruled in favor of the Black members, granting them ownership of Bethel Baptist Church. Afterward, the white members left to establish Tabernacle Baptist Church, later renamed First Baptist Church. In an ironic turn, despite Bethel Baptist’s court victory securing the name and property, First Baptist (then Tabernacle Baptist Church) bought the property downtown in 1886.

All of this is to say that any business that has stood this long, religious or not, is due to its controversy. It’s a rite of passage if you will. And the 175-year-old First Baptist Church, founded on somewhat debatable terms, is not exempt from that rule. 

This isn’t an attack on religion or churches but a comment on what is supposed to be a separation of church and state. And if you were to take a magnifying glass to this general idea that has, in recent years, been completely disregarded, you’ll find an interesting relationship between downtown Jacksonville and First Baptist Church. It seems that the growth or lack thereof is intertwined with the growth and development of the First Baptist Church. All that said, a lot of this is speculative and based on rumors. But any good rumor is based on some truth. And it’s not one I came up with on my own. This rumor goes back to eight years ago when Reddit user BruxellesBlonde posted the following prompt to a thread on r/Jacksonville titled “How is First Baptist controlling Downtown”: “What have been some of the more publicized moves by them to limit bars and general debauchery? How much influence do they have on city council? Who are the individuals responsible for that influence?” 

One of the first comments on the thread brought up something I have heard whispers about in conversations with friends. 

Despite this post being eight years old, upon further research, I found that this ordinance is still very much active. Under Jacksonville’s code of ordinances under part 8-Alcoholic Beverages, section 656.805 it says the following:

“(b) There shall be not less than 500 feet from an established school or church for the off-premises consumption of alcoholic beverages, including beer and wine, and not less than 500 feet from an established adult entertainment or service facility.

(d) There shall be not less than 1,500 feet from an established school or church for the on-premises consumption of alcoholic beverages, not in conjunction with the service of food, except as specifically provided herein.” 

Another comment on the thread caught my eye:

Good news is that licenses, including but not limited to liquor licenses, are public record. Bad news is (depending on which way you lean on these types of topics) there was no legal document or license listed under First Baptist Church, though I did find that St. Marks Episcopal Church owns a liquor license. But that isn’t to say that this rumor is completely based on nothing. It could very well be the case that the liquor licenses that the First Baptist Church is rumored to be buying up could be owned under an alias or more than one. 

Truth be told, I exhausted any resources I could to find out if this specific rumor is true. I even tried looking up any licenses possibly owned under the name of some of the church’s staff members and came up short. That aside, one thing we know for sure is that First Baptist Church owns a good chunk of buildings on Laura Street. Meaning that no club or bar can operate 1,500 feet from these megabuildings. And not to sound like a broken record, but because of this ordinance and because of the First Baptist Church’s location, it inherently creates a block on Downtown’s potential for growth. 

This image highlights the ten blocks First Baptist church owned in 2008, but in 2019, the megachurch revealed that they planned to sell nine of the ten city blocks it owned due to the inability to financially support any renovations and general upkeep. In an article posted on “The Florida Times-Union” in 2020, head pastor Heath Lambert said, “‘Every day in the month of July, I don’t care who you are, you had more money in your bank account than First Baptist Church did,” Lambert told the congregation on Sept. 8. “Every single day. If you had $1 in your bank account, you had more money than First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, and we are spending $1.2 million a month.’”

At one point the congregation was a force in Jacksonville and its politics, however, over the years First Baptist presence began to shrink. In 2020, First Baptist sold most of its buildings for $1.13 million, according to city records, to EJPC LLC. In 2022, First Baptist sold two more of its properties — a church auditorium at 119 W. Beaver St. and a parking garage at 712 N. Hogan St. —  for $8.39 million. Money from this purchase went into renovating and revitalizing what is now their main headquarters, the historic Hobson Auditorium at 124 W. Ashley St and the Lindsay Memorial Auditorium at 125 W. Ashley St.

In another Reddit thread posted two years ago, more information, speculation and rumors were brought to light. I’ll let them speak for themselves.

The rumor that First Baptist Church is the reason Jacksonville missed out on Walt Disney World isn’t entirely accurate. While it’s true that the Walt Disney Company considered Jacksonville as a potential site for the theme park and even reached out to local businessman Ed Ball, it was Ball’s response—“I don’t deal with carnival folk”—that turned Disney away. This rejection ultimately led Disney to acquire the 27,000 acres in Orlando where the park now stands.

Jacksonville’s 1917 mayor, John W. Martin, indeed played a role in the city’s brief and unsuccessful rise in the film industry. The connection between Martin and First Baptist Church stems from his strong conservative views and the fact that, in 1917, First Baptist held significant influence in the community. While it may be a rumor, it’s not entirely unfounded.

Further, film historian Nadia Ramoutar was quoted in “Lights, Camera, Action!: The Role of Jacksonville in the Silent Film Era” in “Trust the Leaders” magazine stating, “And on Sundays, when everyone was at church and the streets were empty, that’s when they could shoot the shootout at the O.K. Corral. There was no air conditioning then, church windows were open, and the mayhem could clearly be heard from the pews. The women wore pants and they all frequented bars, and their mob scenes would routinely get out of hand. It was more than the good citizens of Jacksonville could stomach.”

When looking up if First Baptist Church had any involvement with a task force under D.A.R.T, nothing came up. But I did find something more interesting — a letter by head pastor Lambert on the First Baptist Church website in which he highly opposes any affiliation or aid to the LGBTQIA+ community. Guidepost Solutions recently announced its commitment to supporting diversity, inclusion and equity. What does the First Baptist church have to do with a global risk management and security company? So glad you asked. First Baptist’s affiliate, Southern Baptist Church, has an Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force (ARITF) and hotline directly linked to Guidepost Solutions. Lambert revealed in his letter to the congregation that he is opposed to the recommendation of the ARITF using Guidepost Solutions to maintain their sexual abuse hotline when Guidepost Solutions made their stance clear.

Here is a quick snippet from Lambert’s letter regarding this opposition:

“I understand that the ARITF has a difficult and important job. I appreciate that they have been at pains to make clear how difficult it has been to find any firm with the ability to create and maintain the required website. I realize they have made clear that Guidepost will create a faith-based division to administer this website and will hire a person with a Southern Baptist background to oversee the work.

It is also true that in a sinful world, we all must enter financial relationships with people who do not share our convictions about biblical sexuality. But the proposed relationship between the Southern Baptist Convention and Guidepost will be extraordinary. The proposal of the ARITF would require — and has already required — a massive outlay of multiple millions of dollars towards an issue absolutely central to the health, safety, and integrity of our churches.

It is not possible for any firm committed to ‘celebrating’ sexually immoral lifestyles to be faithful in policing Southern Baptists on issues of sexual abuse. To say the absolute least, this is an utter impossibility. In all honesty, if this is the latest report from the committee, then it means the work of the committee is not yet complete.”

Do with that information what you will. 

While all of these rumors are based on word of mouth, this article is also a comment on the lack of accountability on issues in our city. We can only imagine how different Downtown could look if somebody delved further into these issues eight years ago. And maybe going forward, we won’t be afraid to point fingers at those who oppress our development and, hence, oppress our voices.