Twenty-One Women, One Hundred and Twenty-Eight Years on School Street
Corinthian Baptist Church sits on the corner of 9th and School Streets in Des Moines, a brick-and-mortar witness to a story that begins, surprisingly, with twenty-one women. On April 3, 1898, those women approached Reverend Samuel Johnson and asked him to establish a spirited Baptist church in their city. At the time, Des Moines had several other denominations but no Baptist congregation of its own. Reverend Johnson agreed, and the First Baptist Church of Des Moines was born in a family dwelling on the city's east side. It would not stay small for long. Within weeks, the congregation moved to West 12th Street between Crocker and School, and Reverend Samuel Bates was installed as the first pastor on May 18, 1898. Shortly afterward, the church was renamed Corinthian Missionary Baptist Church, the name under which it still serves today.
More than a century later, Corinthian Baptist Church has outlasted every pastor who answered it after that founding act of faith. It has occupied three buildings, launched a seventy-five-unit senior housing complex, expanded into a full Family Life Center, and welcomed a tenth senior pastor, Rev. Dr. Jonathan B. Whitfield, who was installed in July 2014. The church's identity remains simple and confident: a community that firmly believes in God's word, seeks to exalt God, and embraces people.
A Line of Pastors, A Line of Buildings
Corinthian's growth has been steady rather than sudden. The first mortgage was retired in 1901, and in January 1902, Reverend T. L. Griffith accepted the call to a new facility at 15th and Linden. Fifteen more years of increase followed, and the congregation seeded the community by helping organize several other Baptist churches in the area.
In April 1917, Rev. George W. Robinson, Sr. became pastor, and within a decade the church had outgrown its home again. In 1927, the congregation purchased the property at 9th and School Streets, where the first worship service was held on July 3, 1927. Reverend Robinson led for thirty-one years until his death in September 1948. Reverend Albert Fox served as interim, and Rev. E. Lloyd Jemison and Rev. Norman R. Olphin followed over the next two decades.
The modern footprint of Corinthian Baptist Church owes much to Reverend F. W. Strickland, who took the helm on July 1, 1968 and immediately launched a building program. On March 5, 1972, the present sanctuary was completed, the first new structure on the campus. One of Strickland's most lasting accomplishments was Corinthian Gardens Apartments, a seventy-five-unit senior citizen and handicapped facility at 10th and Crocker Streets, operated by a selected independent board made up largely of Corinthian members. The facility remains a viable residence for many seniors and continues to be one of the church's signature community contributions.
Reverend Strickland retired in 1990, and Reverend Charlie Stallworth was installed on December 11, 1991. Under his leadership, the church added a second Sunday worship service at 8:00 a.m., launched new Sunday School classes, and built the Family Life Center: a gym and stage, a fellowship hall, ten classrooms, a new baptismal pool, a renovated sanctuary, a chapel, and new administrative offices, completed at a cost of more than 2.5 million dollars. The expansion made Corinthian a hub of citywide and statewide functions.
Reverend Lee Zachary Maxey followed in January 2003 and emphasized building the church through discipleship. Reverend Michael C. Burton arrived in March 2010 and grew the membership by more than 275, establishing ministries including Kara Praise Dancers, Marriage Ministry, Health and Fitness Ministry, and Young Adult Ministry. He died on Christmas Eve 2012. The pulpit then stood vacant until July 2014, when Rev. Dr. Jonathan Whitfield was installed as the church's tenth pastor.
Pastor Whitfield and the Social-Service Mission
Rev. Dr. Jonathan B. Whitfield grew up in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the son of Rev. Dr. Thomas and Mrs. Deborah Whitfield. He was serving in the military in Okinawa, Japan, in January 1988 when, after worshipping at the Lively Sone COGIC where he served as a deacon, he knelt to pray and heard what he describes as an unmistakable call to preach. He was licensed at Calvary Baptist Church in Pleasantville, New Jersey that May.
His preaching has carried a consistent emphasis on the church's reach beyond its walls. When asked about his vision, Pastor Whitfield has said: "It is clear to me that there are certain things the Lord wants the church to do. They really are centered on social service type missions; our efforts outside the four walls of the church. That is not to say we neglect the needs of our fellow church members, but what happens when we leave the sanctuary? How well do we help the churched and the unchurched when our brothers and sisters are hurting?" He and First Lady Theresa Whitfield lead the church together, and members refer to themselves as the CBC family.
That outward focus has shaped recent ministry choices. The church once operated a free clinic on its campus; that clinic is presently closed, but the church still directs neighbors to the Free Clinics of Iowa directory. A child mental health forum brought experts and families to the church to share experiences. A vaccination clinic opened registration through the Win for All DSM partnership to expand access to the COVID-19 vaccine. Two named scholarships, the EDJ Scholarship and the George Robinson Scholarship, support students each year.
Sunday Mornings: Two Services, One Family
Worship at Corinthian Baptist Church happens twice on Sunday morning. The 8:00 a.m. service offers an early, quieter gathering, and the 10:45 a.m. service is the larger congregational worship of the day. Both services are streamed live so that friends and family across the country can join in. A weekly e-bulletin keeps the congregation in touch between Sundays.
Sunday School is offered virtually, led by Deacon Michael Peake. The class meets on Zoom and is open to anyone with the link and password; phone dial-in is also available. Members and visitors who would rather study the lesson in person are welcomed through a number of small groups that meet during the week. Barry Jones serves as Minister of Music and Worship Art, shaping the musical character of each service.
Midweek: Two Bible Studies on Wednesdays
The middle of the week carries the weight of the church's teaching life. At noon on Wednesdays, Rev. Dr. Whitfield leads a Bible study held in person and on Zoom, walking members and guests through the scriptures together. At 6:30 p.m., an interactive virtual Bible study streams live on Facebook, with recordings posted afterward for those who miss the session.
Wednesday evenings are also the church's main small-group hour. Men's Ministry gathers to grow in relationship with each other and Jesus Christ, encouraging servant leadership in families, church and neighborhoods. Women's Ministry runs its own rhythms, including a long-running Chat & Chew & Connect gathering for women of all ages to share a meal and conversation.
Seasonal Rhythms and the J. Karnale Manuel Bible Institute
Beyond the weekly schedule, Corinthian keeps an annual cadence of formation events. The 40-Day Surrender Fast invites the CBC family into a season of prayer and fasting, with daily messages from Pastor Whitfield. A Watch Night Service closes the year. Holy Week brings a multi-day revival each spring. Vacation Bible School opens its doors to everyone from pre-kindergarten through adults, with the theme "Trusting God through Life's Ups and Downs" drawn from Psalm 20:7, and welcomes the whole community.
For members hungry for deeper formation, the J. Karnale Manuel Bible Institute hosts a summer Christian Leadership School, a compressed course of study that brings students together in person and online for intensive spiritual growth. Each student takes one class; the cost includes books and meals, with limited scholarships available based on need. The institute's name honors the long lineage of teaching at Corinthian.
A Building Built for the Neighborhood
The Family Life Center remains the most visible sign of the church's commitment to community. What began as a sanctuary in 1927 has grown into a campus that includes a gym and stage, a fellowship hall, ten classrooms, a baptismal pool, administrative offices, and a chapel. The building hosts citywide and statewide gatherings, VBS classrooms, and the Wednesday noon study, as well as community health and family events.
Across 10th Street, Corinthian Gardens Apartments continues to provide housing for seniors and residents with disabilities, with a Corinthian-rooted board overseeing the operation. Together, the sanctuary and the apartments express the same conviction: that the church's work is not finished when the benediction is spoken.
What Corinthian Believes
The church's own statement of faith is brief and direct: a ministry founded on biblical principles, serving in the spirit of excellence with integrity and compassion for the community; a body that has built a reputation for reaching the lost and broken, ministering and filling them with the utmost level of dignity and respect; a people recognized for dedication to academic and spiritual excellence, mentoring and supporting spiritual leaders; an environment that inspires maximum participation, promotes personal satisfaction, and supports and shapes effective leadership.
Members covenant together to protect and serve the church by acting in love, refusing to gossip, and following their leaders; to share responsibility by praying for its growth, inviting the unchurched, and warmly welcoming visitors; to serve by discovering their gifts, developing a servant's heart, and volunteering them; and to support the church's testimony by attending faithfully, living a godly life, and giving regularly.
Visiting Corinthian Baptist Church
The church sits at 814 School Street in Des Moines, Iowa. The church office is open Monday from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The phone number is (515) 243-4073. The church secretary can be reached at churchsecretary@corinthianbc.org and the pastor at pastor@corinthianbc.org. Online giving is available through Pushpay. Services are livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook each Sunday and Wednesday, and a sermon archive stretches back through more than a decade of preaching, from the Model of Discipleship series through recent messages like "The Community of Believers" and "Hope."
Whoever walks up to 814 School Street on a Sunday morning walks into a congregation that has been gathering there, in one form or another, since 1898, and that still asks, as its founders did, how best to serve the city that surrounds it.