First Baptist Church of Taft has been teaching the Word of God to Taft, California for more than a century. Located at 220 North Street in this Kern County oil town, the church carries the motto "Empower, Encourage, Exclaim," and a simple promise: anyone who walks through its doors will find a place to worship and be encouraged to continue walking in the light of Jesus Christ.
Its mission, written into the Statement of Faith, is to "Empower and Encourage our community with the love of Christ." On any given week that mission is lived out through expository preaching on Sunday morning, a network of small-group Bible studies throughout the week, a youth group, children's ministries, an active theater troupe, and a long list of quiet servants who care for the congregation in tangible ways.
From the Oil Boom to Today
On May 20, 1920, in the early days of the oil boom that gave Taft its identity, a group of nineteen people organized by Bakersfield First Baptist Church and R.C. Blacklock gathered to pray for a Baptist witness in their community. Five months later, on October 20, 1920, a petition went to the Los Angeles Baptist Association requesting membership in the Northern Baptist Convention, and First Baptist Church of Taft became a reality. The first twenty-six members pledged six hundred dollars toward the support of their first pastor, the Reverend M.M. Bledsoe, and the congregation met at Redman Hall before moving shortly after to Smith's Hall.
By 1924 the membership had grown to 162, and the church purchased its own building at Third and Kern. The original frame structure was sold to the Salvation Army and a new brick building took its place. The first service in the new brick building was held in 1925.
The depression tested the young congregation. Pastor Jessie L. Smith often served without pay as members lost work, yet the church continued to grow, adding a girls' youth ministry. By 1937 membership had reached 672. On summer Sundays when there was no air conditioning, several Taft churches met together at Ford City Park and even held a community Vacation Bible School.
When World War II brought servicemen to nearby Gardner Field, the church launched a Recreation Program for Servicemen on July 3, 1941. Through youth activities many of those young men became active in the youth group. When they returned after the war to build homes and careers in Taft, the church walked alongside them, and membership climbed to 764.
In the 1950s Pastor Paul Ray pushed for lay training and a stronger mission emphasis. The current property on North Street was purchased, a building committee was formed under Gerald Robertson, one of the former Gardner Field servicemen, and groundbreaking was held April 27, 1958. Under the ninth pastor, Reverend Joseph Bruner, whose text was Nehemiah 2:18, "Let us arise and build," Phase I was completed three months ahead of schedule. The first service in the new sanctuary was held December 21, 1958, with 624 in attendance.
Phase II followed in 1974, with a fellowship hall, offices, and classrooms built largely by volunteer labor; more than 8,900 man-hours went into the project. The dedication ceremony came on March 21, 1976. Around the same time Chevron, then Standard Oil, moved its main offices out of Taft to Bakersfield, and the church felt the impact.
The early 1980s brought Michael Adam as the church's first full-time Minister of Music. Under his leadership the music program expanded to include a church choir, three handbell choirs, the Golden Agers Chorale, and a children's choir, and the music ministry reached across the city through Christmas programs. Youth and adults also began traveling during Easter vacations to Mexico to teach and help with building projects.
Sunday at FBC Taft
The weekly rhythm at First Baptist begins before most of the city wakes up. Saturday mornings at 8:30 bring the church together for corporate prayer, a practice the congregation sees as essential for both individual faith and shared life.
Sunday morning opens at 9:00 with Bible study in the Gathering Room. Pastor Sean Peifer leads an in-depth yet accessible walk through Scripture, combining teaching, reading, and discussion. The group takes time to pray for the pastor and the morning's message, for those serving in the church, for the congregation, and for hearts that will hear the Word.
The Sunday morning service begins at 10:30 in the Sanctuary. The order opens and closes with Scripture, the music is biblically sound, the sermons are expository, and a children's message is offered before kids are dismissed to their own classes. The church's prayer for its people is drawn from 1 Corinthians 12:27: "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it."
Services are livestreamed on YouTube and remain available afterward, so anyone who is traveling or shut in can keep up with the series. The church is also part of the Westside Christian Ministers Association, and Pastor Peifer regularly preaches at the WCMA cooperative Sunday Night Church, a shared effort among area congregations.
Bible Studies and Fellowship
The church surrounds its worship with a network of weekly studies and fellowship groups that meet in the Gathering Room, the Prayer Room, and other spaces on the property.
The Men's Bible Study gathers on Mondays at 6:30 PM under Rick Jorgensen. It is built around chapter-by-chapter study, lively discussion, prayer, encouragement, and simple fellowship.
On Wednesdays at noon, Vicki Scholefield leads the Women's Bible Study. Women bring their Bibles, study guides, and sack lunches and are working through Kristi McLelland's "Jesus and Women."
On the last Monday of each month at 5:30, Growing Grace gives women of any stage of faith a low-key place to connect, encourage one another, and grow. The group is led by Vicki Scholefield, Dawn Cole, and Stacy Falgout.
Thursdays at 9:45 AM, Coffee and Conversations meets in the Prayer Room. Led by Kristina Stone, the morning is geared toward women who want to feel more connected to the body of Christ without a sense of obligation, listening, encouraging with Scripture, and finding practical ways to come alongside one another.
Every other Sunday evening at 6:00, John and Liz Usrey lead the College and Career Life Study Group, a ministry for the post-high-school, college, and early-career crowd, roughly ages 18 to 30. Its aim is Christian maturity with Christ as foundation and purpose.
Children, Youth, and the Stage
Kids have several places to belong. On Sunday mornings, after the children's message, KidMin gathers age-appropriate classes for Bible-based lessons with crafts and activities that reinforce the gospel. AWANA, a discipleship club built around Scripture memory and game time, is in summer recess but resumes in the fall. Vacation Bible School is a multi-evening summer program with a distinct theme each year; recent years have included "Illumination Station," with Bible stories, crafts, games, and worship centered on Jesus as the Light of the World.
Rooted Youth is the church's ministry for junior high and high school students. It meets Thursdays at 5:30 in the church gym under Laura Segall. The goal is to connect students to God through worship and prayer, to build community through fellowship and discipleship, and to empower them through evangelism and service.
The Theater Ministry brings Bible stories and the gospel to life through stage performance. Open to anyone regardless of age or experience, members and non-members alike, the troupe rehearses, auditions, and produces plays throughout the year under team lead Kristi Peifer.
Behind the Scenes
A first-time visitor may notice a few of these servants at work without realizing how much depends on them.
The Hospitality Team is often the first face a guest sees, with a candy bowl always full, a handshake at the door, and a card sent when someone is missing. They also organize meal trains when church families need them. The Tech and Social Media Team runs slides, lighting, and the livestream, keeping both the in-person and online services moving. The Decorating Team adds color to the building's gathering areas, with a special crew dedicated to the Christmas touches. The Facility Maintenance Team is a band of volunteers who keep the property in shape, from swapping door handles to building walls. The newer Brew Crew sets up a monthly coffee bar before 10:00 AM.
The Diaconate Team is the church's quiet shepherd force. Under team leader Bill Wickwire, deacons Dee Wickwire and Kitty Shinn, along with Pastor Peifer, pray for and serve families in need and help members stay connected when they cannot attend in person. The Bereavement Ministry, an extension of that care, comes alongside grieving families with meals and gatherings after funeral services.
For outreach and connection, the F.U.N. Ministry, Faith, Unity, Networking, is a multi-generational team that plans engaging events at the church and out in the community, creating welcoming spaces where people feel valued and introduced to the love of Jesus. Family movie nights and the summer Rootbeer Float-tacular are regular gatherings it organizes, and many double as fundraisers for the women's ministry.
Music and Prayer
The Worship Team leads the church in song each Sunday. T.J. Stone is the worship leader, with Pastor Peifer also participating. The team's calling is summarized in Colossians 3:16: "Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God."
Reaching Out: Missions and Bereavement
A standing Missions Committee, chaired by John Usrey with Liz Usrey as secretary, oversees the church's external ministry. The missions page notes that the work continues to take shape.
The Bereavement Ministry is one of the church's most visible acts of practical care. Volunteers coordinate meals and gatherings for families after a funeral, easing a small but important burden during a hard season.
What FBC Taft Believes
The Statement of Faith is rooted in the Bible as the divinely inspired, final authority. Members affirm belief in one God who exists eternally in three co-equal persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and in Jesus Christ as virgin-born, fully divine and fully human. They confess that Christ died on the cross, was buried, and rose bodily for the atonement of sin, and that salvation is by grace through personal faith in Him, not by works.
They look for the literal, personal, visible, and imminent return of Christ. They practice believer's baptism by immersion in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and observe the Lord's Supper as a remembrance of Christ's atoning death until He comes. The local church is understood as autonomous, self-governing by majority rule, and interdependent with other churches of like faith and practice for the carrying out of the Great Commission.
The statement also affirms the sanctity of human life from conception, the separation of church and state, and the Biblical representation of marriage as the union of one man and one woman, which the statement names as God's ideal. Other sexual relations are described as deviations from that ideal for which God's grace is offered to all who repent. The church works "in loyalty to, and full cooperation with Transformation Ministries in the U.S.A.," a Baptist fellowship, while holding that this cooperation never requires surrendering any of these truths.
Online giving is available through the church's Give page, and a full calendar of upcoming events lives at the Events page. Anyone interested in finding a place to serve can browse current Volunteer Opportunities, where positions ranging from slide tech to Brew Crew setup are listed with a contact name and phone number.