Fountain Street Church 4.04

Fountain Street Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, was for a time unique in the United States as being large, religiously liberal and non-denominational in a notably conservative city. It arose from its beginnings as a Baptist church which responded to the ascendency of liberal Christianity in the late 19th century, primarily through graduates of the University of Chicago Divinity School, which was a leader in the movement.Established in the largest town in West Michigan, in 1869 as Fountain Street Baptist Church, by 1960 FSC surrendered its Baptist name and identity altogether to become an independent, non-denominational liberal church. In 1959, a book chronicling the story of Fountain Street Church titled Liberal Legacy – A History of Fountain Street Church was published in-house by Philip Buchen, a member of the church and legal advisor to President Gerald Ford.In the years between 1896 and 2006 Fountain Street Church eventually shed its explicitly Christian identity for a non-creedal spiritual life that closely approximated Unitarian Universalism. Its newest mantra to "Free the Mind, Grow the Soul and Change the World" summarizes the church's approach to religion from the earlier days to this.HistoryThe roots of Fountain Street Church date to 1824, when the region’s original Baptist mission established itself “to convert the Ottawa Native Americans.” A lengthy history of institutional squabbles between themselves and other area Baptists eventually culminated in the two factions' reunion in 1869 to create Fountain Street Baptist Church (so named for the building they erected on the east side of downtown Grand Rapids).