On May 17, 1908, 10 people met and organized Twenty-First Street Baptist Church on the corner of 21st<\/sup> and Fisher Streets in the northeast Springfield neighborhood.<\/p>\n About five months later, the church moved to a building on the corner of 16th<\/sup> and Franklin Streets and became Franklin Street Baptist Church. In 1939, construction began on the current sanctuary on that same corner. The church held its sanctuary dedication in 1941 and still holds a steady presence in the heart of Jacksonville.<\/p>\n \u2018An oasis and a lighthouse\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n At age 10, Taylor was baptized in the new sanctuary in 1942, joined the church and began leading the congregational singing as a teenager.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Taylor went on to serve as a minister of music in a few Baptist churches before returning to retire at Franklin Street, where \u201cThey still sing out of the hymn books.\u201d<\/p>\n He admits it\u2019s hard to see the state of his old neighborhood. His former home was torn down.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just a vacant lot now. It breaks my heart to see so many homes boarded up, and there are several homes right next to Franklin Street that are boarded up.\u201d<\/p>\n Taylor is thankful the church is still going strong. He gives a lot of credit to the leadership of Pastor Terry Gore, and his wife, Bobbie.<\/p>\n In 1988, Gore returned to Franklin Street after serving as the church\u2019s youth director in the 1960s.<\/p>\n While Gore served 18 years at San Jose Baptist Church<\/a> in Jacksonville as youth leader and associate pastor, people from Franklin Street often asked him if he would consider coming back. After much prayer, he returned to become Franklin Street\u2019s 22nd<\/sup> pastor and would later become its longest serving pastor at 37 years.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI felt like the inner city was a great challenge because at that time many inner-city churches were closing,\u201d Gore said.<\/p>\n \u201cI realized this was a community that needed an oasis and a lighthouse,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Right away the young pastor went knocking on doors to invite people to church, resulting in many professions of faith in his first 18 months as pastor.<\/p>\n “Our goal is to win people to Jesus Christ and to disciple them and to build a fellowship of sweet-spirited people.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cOur goal is to win people to Jesus Christ and to disciple them and to build a fellowship of sweet-spirited people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/kaylani-and-Bobbie-Gore_franklinst_28247-copy.jpeg\")
<\/a> Bobbie Gore, pastor\u2019s wife at Franklin Street Baptist Church, shows some love to little Kaylani Hill. The church looks for opportunities to share God\u2019s love with children in the inner-city neighborhood.<\/p>\n<\/a> Fifteen-year-old Jadalyn Norman-Bender stops by the church after her National Honor Society induction at her school to show her certificate to Pastor Terry Gore and his wife, Bobbie. \u201cWe are very proud of her,\u201d Gore said.<\/p>\n
\npastor, Franklin Street Baptist Church, Jacksonville<\/div>\n<\/div>\n