DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it: and brother, it tells it well. September 9, 1871. Out here in what would become Tarrant County, the Rev.
J.C. Powers gathered forty-eight charter members together and organized the Ash Creek Missionary Baptist Church. Now, forty-eight souls deciding to build something lasting on the Texas frontier; that alone is a story worth pullin' over for.
But the part that'll stop you cold is this: Rev. Powers preached with a gun right there beside his Bible. Not in a drawer somewhere.
Not leaning against the wall. Right there beside the Good Book. And the men in the pews?
Rifles on their knees. Every Sunday a congregation guarding against Indians while trying to keep their hearts on higher things. That is a particular kind of faith; the kind that doesn't have the luxury of being theoretical.
Years passed, the congregation held on, and in 1891, under the Rev. T.H. Sturges, they finally raised a proper meeting house right here at this site.
Summer came, and they built brush arbors on the grounds, held prayer meetings out under the open Texas sky. And the women of that church (don't you overlook what the women did), they sold every egg laid on Sundays. Every single one.
And they took that money and bought Sunday school literature. That's devotion measured out in eggs, and it bought something that lasted. The congregation kept going, kept growing, and in 1965 they built a new auditorium.
The original structure, the one that Sturges's congregation raised back in 1891, they didn't tear it down. They made it a Fellowship Hall. Same walls, new purpose.
That's a church that knows how to honor where it came from.
What the marker says
On September 9, 1871, the Rev. J.C. Powers led 48 charter members in organizing Ash Creek Missionary Baptist Church. Guarding against Indians, Rev. Powers preached with a gun beside his Bible and men kept rifles on their knees. A meeting house was erected at this site in 1891 under the Rev. T.H. Sturges. In summers, brush arbors were built and prayer meetings held on the grounds. The women sold all eggs laid on Sundays to buy Sunday school literature. In 1965 a new auditorium was built and the original structure used for a Fellowship Hall. (1979)