Members of Asylum Avenue Baptist Church met to discuss proposed merger with First Baptist Church of West Hartford

1. The purpose of the negotiations was to conclude a merger and to construct a new church building in West Hartford for the merged churches.
2. The present sites of both Asylum Avenue Baptist Church and First Baptist Church would be placed on the market.
3. Another site would then be purchased for the merged church.

1. First Baptist Church of West Hartford formed a special committee to negotiate a merger with Asylum Avenue Baptist Church on March 16, 1931.
2. The building committee discussed its “informal conversations” about a potential merger on March 25, 1931.

The building committee’s subcommittee met with the special committee from First Baptist Church on April 1, 1931.

1. Lewis Robotham, concluding his report: “We are standing at the cross roads, and have three possible routes to consider.  One of them is the proper road to take, but whichever we take, it will be impossible to turn back after we are a little way up the road.  We of the committee urge that the matter is one which members of the church should very seriously consider before arriving at a decision.”
2. “Immediately following the fire the suggestion was made that the church should seek a new site in West Hartford, since it was estimated that nearly 75 per cent of its members live west of the present location of the church. Although this possibility was discussed, the building committee went ahead with gathering data on the cost of rebuilding the church on its present site, finding that it would cost slightly more than $70,000.”

First Baptist Church of West Hartford was located at 962 Farmington Avenue at this point in time.

• 962 Farmington Avenue is now the Ichiro Hibachi & Sushi Restaurant.
• First Baptist Church of West Hartford is currently located at 90 North Main Street.

Unattributed.  “Baptists will confer about merger plan,” Hartford Courant, March 30, 1931, page 1.