The Origins of Muldoon Road Baptist Church
The Muldoon Road Baptist Church of Anchorage, Alaska, was started as a mission in July 1960. The first building was a government/military (Q-Hut) surplus barracks 20 x 70 feet. There were 23 people in the first service. The mission was constituted into a church in November 1960, with 54 charter members.
The Pastor, Virgil A. Chron, brought his wife and four daughters from Crosbyton, Texas, to begin this work without any promise of actual support outside the strong arm of the Lord and the certainty of His call. Brother Chron was a businessman who, at the age of 32, felt and answered God's call to preach. While still maintaining his business and pastoring a church in Cone, Texas, he completed his education at Texas Tech, Wayland Baptist University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. At this point, he felt God wanted him to leave the "Bible Belt" and come to Alaska to begin a new work. He had seen the vast need and felt the challenge of Alaska after being here in a revival in 1959.
Brother Chron arrived in Alaska and lost no time procuring property with the help of a brother, E. C. Chron, then pastor of First Baptist Church of Eagle River, the sponsoring church. First Baptist Church, Crosbyton, and First Baptist Church, Lorenzo, Texas, assisted the new mission by providing a loan and some monthly financing. The small barracks building on the property, after much painting and general renovation by the Chron family, served as the initial chapel. Later, after some growth, the Chugach Baptist Association gave Muldoon another surplus building, which was attached to the original building to make an L-shaped building.
Pastor Chron and his wife, June, did substitute teaching in the local school district for three and a half years for income. Subsequently, the Home Mission Board assisted the young church by giving some salary supplement and provided loan resources. The church experienced phenomenal growth. In 1968, the church was approaching a Sunday school enrollment of 800 with an average attendance of 400-450. Missions were established at Kobuk (Pastor Harley Shield), King Salmon (Pastor Don Rawlins), and Silver Lake at Chitna. During his years as pastor of Muldoon Road Baptist Church, Brother Chron led the church through 4 or 5 building programs to provide the church 42,000 square feet of space.
Muldoon Road Baptist Church 8th Anniversary Service
We are grateful to God for the great legacy of faithfulness of Muldoon Road Baptist Church. If you or a loved one met Jesus at MRBC or if you would be interested in visiting our on campus Legacy Room, please contact us at info@truenorthalaska.com
We want to hear your story and celebrate God’s faithfulness!
We maintain a Legacy Room with memorabilia and artifacts from the 60+ year legacy of Muldoon Road Baptist Church on the ground floor of our campus at 382 Muldoon Road. Tours of the building and Legacy Room are able to be scheduled between 9am and 3pm Monday thru Thursday.
Now, in 2022, the congregations of True North Church and Muldoon Road Baptist Church have merged under the name of True North Church.