Central Baptist Church

Duane's take

The official marker's the word I'm going by, and here's how I tell it. October 14, 1912. Fifteen members of Port Arthur's First Baptist Church made a decision.

They walked away from what they knew, and under the direction of Rev. J. Warren Bates, they organized something new.

They called it Central Baptist Church. The organizational meeting was held right there at the home of Mr. and Mrs. A.J.

Singleton, and that was just the beginning. Less than two months later, on December 11, 1912, the congregation purchased land on Procter Street and put up a wood frame church. A congregation of fifteen, moving fast, building something meant to last.

Then in March of 1915, they picked that church building up and moved it to a new home at 6th Street and St. Augustine Avenue. Services were held there until 1924.

Now, a church that moves once will move again if it needs to, and Central Baptist proved that. From 1924 all the way until 1976, the church made its home at 9th Street and DeQueen Boulevard, meeting first in a frame building and then, when the time was right, in a brick sanctuary. Solid.

Settled. But still growing. Back in 1925, Central Baptist Church earned itself a distinction.

It became the first church in the Southeast Texas Baptist Association to hold a Vacation Bible School. First. In a whole regional association.

That's not a small thing to hang your hat on. The congregation kept reaching further out. In 1973, the church purchased acreage on Highway 73 and 46th Street, and by 1976 a new worship complex was completed there.

That was the same year they finally left DeQueen Boulevard behind. Two eras ending and beginning in the same breath. And they didn't stop there.

Radio broadcasts of evening services began in 1962 under Rev. Carl Duck. Then in 1971, under Rev.

Dale Kirkhuff, the morning service was televised. Port Arthur waking up on a Sunday morning with Central Baptist coming right through the screen. A child day care center began in 1977, and the Accelerated Christian Education school got underway in late 1980.

Both programs were later discontinued, but they served their season. The educational and administrative buildings were completed in May of 1983. And the outreach kept on going, quiet and steady: evening services for the residents of Cypress Glen East Nursing Home, a hand in sponsoring the English as a Second Language program alongside other local churches.

Then the storms came. Hurricanes Rita and Ike both had their way with Southeast Texas, and when national and international volunteers arrived to help with recovery efforts, Central Baptist Church opened its doors and its facilities to every one of them. A congregation that had been moving and building and reaching since fifteen people sat down in the Singleton home was now sheltering helpers who had come from across the world.

The marker sums it up plain and true: for more than a century, Central Baptist Church has reached out through activities, charity, and prayer. Some churches sit still and wait for the world to come to them. This one never did.

What the marker says

On October 14, 1912, fifteen members of Port Arthur's First Baptist Church, including Rev. J. Warren Bates, left and organized Central Baptist Church. Rev. Bates directed the organizational meeting at the home of Mr. and Mrs. A.J. Singleton. On December 11, 1912, the congregation purchased land on Procter Street and constructed a wood frame church. in March 1915, that church building was moved to a new home at 6th Street and St. Augustine Avenue, and services were held there until 1924. From 1924 until 1976, the church was located at 9th Street and DeQueen Bouelvard, meeting first in a frame building and then in a brick sanctuary. In 1973, Central Baptist Church purchased acreage on Highway 73 and 46th Street and completed a new worship complex there in 1976. In 1925, Central Baptist Church was the first church in the Southeast Texas Baptist Association to have a Vacation Bible School. Radio broadcasts of evening services began in 1962 under Rev. Carl Duck and in 1971 under Rev. Dale Kirkhuff the morning service was televised. A child day care center began in 1977 and the Accelerated Christian Edcuation school begain in late 1980, but these two programs were later discontinued. The educational and administrative buildings were completed in May 1983. The church conducts evening services for the residents of Cypress Glen East Nursing Home. The church joined other local churches in sponsoring the English as a Second Language program. During Hurricanes Rita and Ike, the church opened its facilities to national and international volunteers who came to help with recovery efforts. For more than a century, Central Baptist Church has reached out through activities, charity and prayer. (2012)