Antioch Missionary Baptist Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna do my best to honor every word. Way out in Panola County, there's a congregation with roots that go all the way back to 1871. Five charter members.

That's it. Five people decided a church needed to exist, and they made it so. J.

F. McLendon and W. H.

H. Hayes stepped up as the first pastors, two men sharing the load of a brand new flock. Now, a congregation needs a place to gather, and in 1876 that place took shape on 2.4 acres donated by T.

J. Miller and Margaret Barnes. A sanctuary went up, and those grounds would eventually become what folks know today as Antioch Cemetery.

But here's where the story takes a hard turn. That sanctuary was destroyed by fire. Gone.

And what does a congregation do when fire takes everything? They build again. On land purchased by B.

G. Holmes, a new church building went up, around 1883. You'd think that would be the end of the hard times.

It was not. That building burned in 1939. Two fires in one church's history is a weight most congregations never carry.

But by 1940, they had rebuilt again. Services ran once a month, as they had for years, until 1950, when a parsonage was built at the former site of Antioch School, and things grew from there. This congregation has kept right on serving the community with various programs and activities, which, when you consider everything fire and time threw at those original five members' dream, is about as Texas a story as there is.

What the marker says

Five charter members founded this church in 1871. J. F. McLendon and W. H. H. Hayes served as first pastors. A sanctuary was built on 2.4 acres (present-day Antioch Cemetery) donated by T. J. Miller and Margaret Barnes in 1876. It was destroyed by fire and a new church building was erected here on land purchased by B. G. Holmes about 1883. It burned in 1939 but was rebuilt in 1940. Services were conducted once monthly until 1950, when a parsonage was built at the former site of Antioch School. The congregation continues to serve the community with various programs and activities. Sesquicentennial of Texas Statehood 1845-1995