In 1895, a school was built in Harrison. On July 10, 1895 eight people met in the schoolhouse to form the Harrison Baptist Church. By March 9, 1897 the Church had gained enough members to be accepted as a church in good standing by the Spokane Association of Baptist churches.
The church building was first built between late 1898 and 1899. Baptisms were held nearby in Lake Coeur d'Alene. The first baptisms we held as soon as the ice melted off the lake. In 1917 a devastating fire started in one of the local lumber mills on the waterfront. It swept through Harrison and completely destroyed the church and parsonage. The only thing saved was the piano, which is still in use today. Within a year after the fire, the church was rebuilt on the same site. However, the parsonage was never rebuilt. A parsonage was acquired in July 1926. This local landmark was built by Dr. John Busby in 1904 and he used it for his home, doctor's office and clinic before it became a parsonage. On July 14, 1974 the church members voted unanimously to change the name of the church to Harrison Community Baptist church.
In recent years, the church body has enjoyed participating in 24 hour prayer vigils, leadership retreats and various other opportunities to serve and learn. The community food bank is housed in the church facility. Donations are received from many individual and groups in the local community. Our collective interest in Missions is growing. We have sent teams to the Dominican Republic, Western Washington, Idaho and California. The groups have been mixed in ages from youth to adults.
In July 2004, the church family created and participated in Summerfest 2004. It was the largest organized community outreach the church had done in decades. Summerfest was held in the city park. Provided throughout the day were hourly live entertainment, carnival-style games, food and gift drawings. The event concluded with a live concert performance by the Christian group RESCUE, a guest speaker evangelist and grand prize drawing of a big screen TV.
A stained glass restoration project has been started. The beautiful windows are original to the church, making them nearly 80 years old. Prior work had been done, but the windows are in desperate need of repair and a complete renovation needs to be done. A fund for the windows has been set up. Using the funds designated for this project, the windows are being repaired on a most needy-first basis.
Today the church has an average Sunday attendance of 75 people. The current membership is 38. The location of the church building is within the city limits on the main street of Harrison, Idaho. Although the town of Harrison has a population of 267, many people reside in the surrounding rural and lakefront areas. Our church family is made up of people from all over and they come as far away as St. Maries and Rose Lake. During the summer the church usually sees an increase due to the attendance of vacationers and summer residents.
Sunday school 9:45am
Worship Service 11:00am
Bible Studies 6:30pm
Wednesdays
His Kids 3:00-5:15pm
Mondays
Teens 6:00-8:00 pm
