the first baptist church of hammond (or fbchammond) is a fundamental independent baptist church in hammond, indiana. it is the largest church in the state of indiana and one of the largest churches in the united states. it was founded in 1887. it was under jack hyles' leadership from 1959-2001 that it became a megachurch, one of the first in the united states, with a steady weekly attendance of around 20,000. it also operates hyles-anderson college and two k-12 schools, named "city baptist schools" (for children of the bus route of the church) and "hammond baptist schools" (for children of the members of the church). jack schaap, hyles' son-in-law, succeeded as pastor after hyles' death for 11 years until he was fired in 2012 for having sex with a 16 year old girl.