austin village baptist church Celebration and background Austin Village Baptist Church, 545 Commerce Ave., NW, Warren, celebrates its 50th anniversary on Sunday. Pastor Steve Mayes, a former church

The beginning: Austin Village Baptist Church is the result of a program begun in the 1950s by the Southern Baptist Convention to start churches in northern states. Pastor Cornelius Bright held the first service with four in attendance on July 6, 1960, for what would become Austin Village Baptist Church. It began as Austin Village Mission in a storefront in Austin Village Plaza. Bright and his family were known as”tentmakers," the term used by the Southern Baptist Convention to describe a missionary who establishes a church. Twenty-nine members were at the first service July 9, 1961, of Austin Village Baptist Church. In June, the congregation bought four acres behind Austin Village Plaza for $17,500 to build a church, which still stands on that site on Commerce Street.

1960s and ’70s: The church is responsible for starting 10 missions, which eventually become churches and they start missions. The church builds an educational wing.

Today: The church has a new sanctuary after the fire in 2001. The building also includes its educational wing, nursery and preschool rooms, fellowship hall, pastor’s study and office. The Web is www.austinvillagebaptistchurch.com.