The History of Crescent Bay West Los Angeles
Southern Baptist Association

Where did it all start? I mean our Crescent Bay West Los Angeles Association of Southern Baptist Churches. There was a group of Christians who were of the Southern Baptist denomination who used to drive from this area to Bakersfield to worship in a Southern Baptist church because there was none in this area. Later on, the Los Angeles Association was formed. It was not long before the Los Angeles area became too big for one Association, so those belonging to the Los Angeles Association who were living on the west side split off and formed their own Association which became known as the Crescent Bay West Los Angeles Association. The Association got its name from the crescent shape of the area around the bay.

Centinela Avenue First Southern Baptist Church became the Association’s first organized church. As an interesting side note: The Santa Monica Good Shepherd Baptist Church started as a mission of the Centinela Church, and after it organized as a church, it started a mission in Culver City which became the First Southern Baptist Church of Culver City.

The first Annual Meeting of the Association was held at Calvary Southern Baptist Church, Hawthorne, on October 10th, 1960. There was no Director of Missions at that time. Floyd M. Darling was the Moderator of the Association.

We had 18 churches in this Association by that time. They were as follows:

 
By 1970 our Association had 29 Churches and 2 Missions. Our Director of Missions at that time was Gene Lake, who by the way was our first Director of Missions. We joined with the San Fernando Valley Association, thus becoming a dual Association. Gene Lake was the DOM for both Associations. Our Joint Missions Office was located at the Santa Monica, Good Shepherd Baptist Church. In 1978 the Joint Missions Office was moved to 17424 Sherman Way in Van Nuys.

By 1980 we had 34 Churches in our Association and 7 Missions. Gene Lake was still our Director of Missions. At the First Quarterly Meeting in 1981 he submitted his resignation as DOM to the Association to be effective in March. He then moved back to Texas.

In 1981, E.D. Giddens became Interim Director of Missions of our Association. It was also during this time that our Association separated from the San Fernando Valley Association. In 1982 there was a special meeting called to elect a new DOM Search Committee to seek out someone to be our new DOM. In 1983 the DOM Search Committee presented Rev. Don Hall to the Association as a good prospect for the position of DOM. Don Hall was selected by the Association in 1983 to be the new DOM. He served until 1992 when he was forced to retire due to age qualifications.

At this time Carol Nichols became our interim DOM. There was a Search Committee formed to seek out someone to present to the Association to be the next DOM. After a year of search the committee found Lyman Alexander whom they felt the Lord wanted to be our next DOM. He was presented to the Association by the Search Committee at the Associational Annual Meeting of October 11, 1994, at Gardena-Torrance Southern Baptist Church, where he was elected to be the new DOM. His tenure began on January 1, 1995. In June of 1996, the Association Office moved to its present location at 9520 Redfern Avenue, Inglewood, CA 90301.

In 2002 at the Mid-Annual Meeting in April at Primera Iglesia Bautista, Lyman Alexander said good-by to the Association. He had accepted a call to the East Bay Association in San Leandro. A DOM Search Committee was elected. Beginning May 1st, Rev. Ted Knapp and Rev. Abel Owens, became our co-interim Director's of Missions. At this time the association has 71 churches and missions. Through these churches and missions we are reaching out and ministering to 11 cultural groups within the Crescent Bay West Los Angeles area.

After searching for 9 months, the Crescent Bay search committee concluded that Ted Knapp was to be the one the Lord wanted to be our next DOM. He was presented to the Association by the Search Committee at the Associational Annual Meeting of October 20, 2002, at Primera Iglesia Bautista, where Rev. Ted Knapp was elected to be the new DOM. His tenure began on January 1, 2003. To date, during Ted Knapp’s leadership, the association has been transformed into a Team Structure. The association has changed from a committee based format to a staffed team "Resourcing & Networking" churches strategy. The association has restructured a staff with an Associate Ministries Director, an Educational Ministries Director, Missions Director, Evangelism Director, Hispanic Ministries Director, New Church Planting African American & Hispanic Strategists, a Church Ministries Director, an Anglo New Church Planting Strategist and an Office Administrator. Today the Crescent Bay WLA Association has grown to become a model association for the North American Mission Board. The Crescent Bay Association is serving as a "Learning Lab" for other associations across America.