Lakeside Baptist Church - Growing in Faith Since 1881.

The Swedish immigrants who established Lakeside in 1881 loved God and sought a spiritual home where they could worship and serve Him. Many of the Swedes who traveled to the United States in the 1880s were searching for both economic opportunity and religious liberty. In the Muskegon area, the burgeoning lumber business and industrial development promised jobs. Free of religious repression from the state church of Sweden, they looked forward to establishing a church where they could worship freely in accordance with their beliefs.

For approximately 50 years, services used the Swedish language. By 1931, Lakeside church had become the largest Swedish church in Michigan with an average attendance of 300 in summer services and 440 enrolled in Sunday School. In 1933, English was introduced in Sunday morning services and Lakeside began to welcome people of many ethnicities and backgrounds.

Mid-century, Lakeside was home to over 500 believers. Lakeside has supported numerous missionaries, trained scores of children, and assisted in the planting of many new churches in the greater Muskegon area. Due to population shifts, Lakeside today involves fewer individuals and families. Nevertheless, Lakeside continues to reach out to the Muskegon area and the world with the hope-giving Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Lakeside Baptist Church is a part of Converge, a movement of churches working to help people meet, know and follow Jesus