Antioch Missionary Baptist Church

Duane's take

Now, the marker's the one doing the talking here — I'm just the voice it's riding into your ears. Way back before the Civil War, before there was a proper church name, before there was a deed or a deed-holder or a single nail hammered into a sanctuary wall, there were just people. Gathering in one another's homes in Palestine, Texas, as early as 1856, holding services the best way they knew how.

Informal, yes. Official, no. But real — and don't you forget it.

For years this congregation was known simply as Antioch Under the Hill. There's a kind of poetry in that name, isn't there? Something humble about it, something rooted.

But in 1873, the congregation stepped into something more permanent. They were formally named Antioch Baptist Church, and that same year they built their first sanctuary. The land for it was deeded by a man named John H.

Reagan — deeded to four men: the Reverend Bristow Smith, Bob Johnson, Virgil Campbell, and Thomas Hughes. Four names on a deed. Four stakes in the ground.

That's how you say you're not going anywhere. The congregation grew. People have a way of findin' their way toward something that holds together, and Antioch held together.

By 1885, the membership had grown enough that they purchased town lots near this very site — with an eye toward a parsonage. Then in 1887, they bought more. And all that planning, all that saving, all that patience — it came to fruition in 1895 when a new sanctuary was completed.

Eighteen ninety-five. Thirty-nine years after those first quiet gatherings in somebody's front room. Into the twentieth century the church kept buildin' itself up, in more ways than one.

Two ministers are credited with substantially improving the church's facilities during the first quarter of that century — the Reverend T. W. Dailey and the Reverend J.

B. Atkins. The marker doesn't give you a whole lot of drama about them, just the credit they're due.

Sometimes that's enough. Now. Here's where the story takes a breath.

In 1962 — after more than a hundred years of tradition, after a first sanctuary and a second sanctuary and lots purchased and a parsonage and decades of Sunday mornings — the church building was destroyed by fire. Just like that. Gone.

A structure that had served the congregation well, the marker says, and you can feel the weight of those words. Served them well. And then it was gone.

But here's what Antioch did. They didn't scatter. The congregation held services in a community center — kept right on meeting — until a new sanctuary was erected at this site in 1964.

Two years. They were back. And they didn't stop there.

That 1964 sanctuary was later remodeled into a fellowship hall when a new church building was constructed here in 1980. Layer upon layer upon layer, each one built on top of what came before. From informal gatherings in Palestine homes in 1856, to a deed signed by John H.

Reagan, to fire, to rebuilding, to rebuilding again — Antioch Missionary Baptist Church has kept right on servin' the local African American community with Christian educational and family programs, decade after decade. Some things, it turns out, are just not done with their work.

What the marker says

According to local tradition this congregation traces its origin to informal services held in various homes in Palestine as early as 1856. Although referred to as "Antioch Under the Hill" the congregation was formally named Antioch Baptist Church in 1873. The church built its first sanctuary that year on land deeded to the Rev. Bristow Smith, Bob Johnson, Virgil Campbell, and Thomas Hughes by John H. Reagan. Church membership increased and in 1885 and again in 1887 the congregation purchased town lots near here for the purpose of building a parsonage and a new sanctuary which was completed in 1895. Two ministers, the Rev. T. W. Dailey and the Rev. J. B. Atkins, are credited with substantially improving church facilities during the first quarter of the 20th century. The church building, which had served the congregation well, was destroyed by fire in 1962. Services were subsequently held in a community center until a new sanctuary was erected at this site in 1964. The structure was later remodeled for use as a fellowship hall with the construction of a new church building here in 1980. Antioch continues to serve the local African American community with a variety of Christian educational and family programs. (1993)