Bethel Union Baptist Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way back in 1874, something was stirring in the Baptist communities of Texas. The La Grange Baptist District Association was organized that very year, and right alongside it, a congregation had quietly taken shape inside a private home in Giddings, Lee County.

Now, meeting in someone's parlor is fine for a while, but these folks had bigger plans. Land was purchased in Giddings that same year, 1874, and a church building was soon erected, sitting south of the courthouse in a section of town folks called The Flat. That's a name that tells you something about a place without explaining a thing, and I love it for that.

At the very first service held in that new building, two things happened. The congregation put a name to itself, Willow Grove Baptist Church. And they named their minister, the Reverend I.

Tolliver. You can almost hear the amens bouncing off fresh-cut timber walls. Now, Willow Grove wasn't the only congregation making its home in The Flat.

There was another church nearby, St. Paul Chapel, and some years after that first service, the two congregations did what takes a certain kind of courage and humility. They merged.

They became one. And when they moved together to a new site, at the corner of West Dallas and Hempstead streets, they took a new name to go with their new beginning: Bethel Union Baptist Church. The official organization date of the church is 1886.

The church kept on serving its community, year after year. In time, part of the congregation eventually went on to form yet another congregation of their own, which is itself a kind of tribute, a community grown large enough to branch. Property was added to the church in 1911, then again in 1940, 1942, and 1943.

The roots kept spreading. And here's the line that closes it out just right: five former pastors of Bethel Union Baptist Church have gone on to serve as moderators of the La Grange Baptist District Association. The same association that was there at the very beginning, in 1874, the year it all took root.

What the marker says

The La Grange Baptist District Association of Texas was organized in 1874. That same year, land was purchased in Giddings for a church that had recently been organized in a private home. A church building was soon erected, located south of the courthouse in a section of town known as The Flat. At the first service held in the new church, a name was adopted, Willow Grove Baptist Church. Also at that service, the Rev. I. Tolliver was named minister. Some years later, another church located in The Flat, St. Paul Chapel, and the Willow Grove Baptist Church merged to form one congregation. The church moved to its present site, at the corner of West Dallas and Hempstead streets. Following the union of the two congregations, the name was changed to Bethel Union Baptist Church. The official organization date of the church is 1886. The church continued to serve its community for a number of years. Eventually, part of the congregation left to form another congregation. Additional property was added to the church in 1911, 1940, 1942, and 1943. Five former pastors of Bethel Union Baptist Church have served as moderators of the La Grange Baptist District Association. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986