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That was a large sum, larger than the members had hoped for; but given the church’s financial giving the past few years, the sum seemed very manageable.

Few members could have predicted the stock market crash that came only a few months later nor the seriousness of the depression that followed. In four years the church’s income dropped nearly seventy percent, going from $35,000 to less than $11,000. Because of the depression and difficult times everywhere, the church’s creditors were patient with the congregation. But as the economic skies began to brighten the bondholders grew less tolerant with First Baptist’s inability to pay. Eventually Mercantile Trust Company of St. Louis filed suit to foreclose the mortgage. Mercantile Trust claimed the church still owed $144,000 in principal and interest, but since the church could not pay this amount or make satisfactory arrangements with the bondholder the church was put up for sale at auction in Indianapolis on July 21, 1938. Only one bid was entered and that was by Mercantile Trust. The trust company bid $55, 250, and thus bought the church for less than half the principal bonded indebtedness. By terms of the sale, Mercantile Trust now owned the church building, but the congregation was given the right to occupy the building for one year (until July 21, 1939).

The bondholders, of course, did not want the building. They wanted to sell it to the church or to someone else to recoup some of their losses on the loan. Mercantile Trust offered to settle with the church in full for $88,400. Muncie First Baptist officials worked with the trust company for an entire year trying to negotiate the sale of the building. And eventually, one year and one week after the sale of the building, Muncie First bought it back for $70,000. Because of this experience, people who joined the church later noticed a strong resistance by older members of the congregation to permit the church to borrow money ever again. During World War II the members of First Baptist demonstrated that they were not pacifists. During the Civil War a large number of the church family joined the war effort; a number that was 30% higher than the county in general. Even the pastor resigned during the Civil War in order to fight for the Union cause. During World War I pastor John Fraser volunteered his services to help the men in uniform. After the war, the church called “The Fighting Parson” as pastor. He preached that any man who says that Christianity stands for pacifism is a liar. Then in World War II pastor J. Marion Smith preached patriotism, the church opened its doors to the service men and women in the city, and 140 members joined the armed forces.

During the 1950s there were signs of a religious revival taking shape in the United States. Muncie First Baptist experienced this religious renewal as well. Sunday School attendance which had been declining since the depression increased. Financial contributions went up as well. The professional staff of the church increased by the addition of a full-time minister of music and a full-time Christian Education director. The church also helped to establish the Baptist Student Foundation at Ball State Teachers College.