DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm going to do it justice. On the last day of 1882 — December 31st, to be precise — nine people gathered together in Fort Worth with something on their minds. Six men and three women.
That's it. Nine souls with an idea, and that idea was going to outlast almost everything else on Fort Worth's South Side. They organized a congregation that day, and they called the Reverend John Smith Gillispie to serve as their first pastor.
Two weeks later, on January 14th, 1883, they gave themselves a name: South Side Baptist Church. No grand building to speak of — just a rented hall at 15th and Houston Street. But they had a name, they had a pastor, and they had each other.
Sometimes that's enough to start something that lasts a hundred years. Three years pass. 1886. The fellowship has grown enough to erect a real, honest-to-goodness frame church building, planted right on the southwest corner of Broadway and St.
Louis Avenue. Four years after that, they changed the name to Broadway Baptist Church — and that name is going to matter, so hold onto it. By 1906 the congregation had outgrown the old frame structure, and a proper brick building rose to replace it.
Solid. Permanent. The kind of thing you build when you figure you're going to be around for a while.
And then comes April 3rd, 1909. Now I want you to feel the weight of that date, because Fort Worth's South Side did. A devastating fire swept through, and when the smoke finally cleared, more than 200 structures were gone.
The church building — gone. The parsonage — gone. And the homes of 22 member families — gone.
Twenty-two families from the same congregation, their lives turned to ash on the same terrible night. You might think that's the end of the story. It wasn't.
Rebuilding started immediately. Not eventually. Not after a long recovery.
Immediately. And by 1910, a new church structure stood on that corner again. That right there tells you something about those people.
Decades roll on. The church kept growing, kept adding — educational facilities, more space, more life. Then in 1949 they broke ground on a new sanctuary, and on Easter Sunday, 1952, it was completed.
I don't think the timing of that dedication was an accident. By the time the congregation reached its centennial year, Broadway Baptist Church had grown to over 2,500 members. And here's the part that really lands: those nine people who met on New Year's Eve of 1882 started something that went on to help establish at least seven other Baptist churches.
Nine people. One rented hall. A hundred years later — 2,500 strong and seven congregations branching out across the land.
That first cold December night, they had no idea what they were starting. Or maybe — just maybe — they had every idea.
What the marker says
On December 31, 1882, six men and three women met to organize this congregation. They called the Rev. John Smith Gillispie as their first Pastor. The name South Side Baptist Church was adopted January 14, 1883, at worship services held in a rented hall at 15th and Houston Street. In 1886 the fellowship erected a frame church building on the southwest corner of Broadway and St. Louis Avenue. Four years later the congregational name was changed to Broadway Baptist Church. As the church grew, larger facilities were needed. In 1906 a brick structure replaced the original building. On April 3, 1909, a devastating fire swept Fort Worth's South Side, destroying over 200 structures, including the church building, parsonage, and the homes of 22 member families. Rebuilding started immediately, and a new church structure was completed in 1910. The church complex expanded with the addition of educational facilities. A new sanctuary was begun in 1949 and completed by Easter Sunday in 1952. The membership of Broadway Baptist Church has grown to over 2,500 in its centennial year. At least seven other Baptist churches have been established through the efforts of this congregation. (1982)