Loraine Boettner was born on March 7, 1901 at the town of Linden in extreme northwest Missouri. His father William was the Sunday School Superintendent at the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) at Linden; his mother was a member of the Methodist church. He attended the Linden church until he was 16 years of age, and at 18 he joined what was then the Centennial Methodist Church. Because of the influence of his father, he was baptized by immersion in a pond that can still be seen. For the next three years he continued attending the regular fall revivals that were part of rural church life in Missouri. Dr. Boettner would never pinpoint his conversion to any dramatic experience, but said as he heard the Word the Lord gradually revealed Himself to him. "Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God."