Berean Baptist Church was started in
1973 by a group of people from the east side of Columbus, Reynoldsburg,
and Pickerington.
The church met for a few weeks at
the "Wigwam" on Rt. 204 where one of the charter members was
the resident director. Arrangements were soon made to meet in the old
Pickerington Elementary School on N. East Street.
The church's first pastor was Gerald
Fields who was instrumental in getting the church into its own building
on Tollgate Road. The church is located on 3 acres of land on the East
side of Tollgate about 1/4 mile south of Rt. 204. The property was
literally a junkyard when the church purchased the ground.
The original owner had been involved
in mining equipment and railroad wreck salvaging. The property had an
old steam crane and several railroad cars sitting around on the property
amongst wrecked cars, several small buildings used for drop-off points
for newspaper delivery, and an old house and shed.
The church members cleared the land
and made over $10,000 by selling off the scrap iron that was
"buried" on the property. Using the proceeds from the iron,
the members began to build a parsonage on the property. In about a year
the church was started and completed in 1976.
Pastor Fields was unexpectedly
called home to be with the Lord in April of 1978.
