Elm Grove Baptist Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, before there was a church building to speak of, there was a school. The Elm Grove School, standing out here in Bell County, had been doing double duty for roughly twenty years, serving as a worship site for several different congregations.

Several churches, sharing one schoolhouse. You can imagine the scheduling. Then came August of 1911, and a Baptist revival was held right there at that school.

Something took hold. Something stuck. Because when the school closed in 1915, every other congregation moved on, found somewhere else to gather.

Only the Baptist congregation kept coming back to that building. And they kept coming back, and kept coming back, all the way until 1999. That year, the original school building was removed from the site to make way for new construction.

Nearly a century of worship, and then the building was simply gone. But the congregation, now, the congregation was not gone. Not even close.

From its earliest days, Elm Grove Baptist Church made Christian outreach a central part of its ministry. Not a side project, not an occasional effort. Central.

Today the church still collects clothing and toys for needy children, still supports a local food pantry and a local clinic. And there is one more thing this church has quietly been doing throughout its entire existence: serving as a place of training for ministerial students. The Elm Grove School is long removed from that site, but the mission it once sheltered is still very much present.

That is a story worth pulling over for.

What the marker says

IN AUGUST 1911, A BAPTIST REVIVAL WAS HELD AT THE ELM GROVE SCHOOL, WHICH HAD SERVED AS A WORSHIP SITE FOR SEVERAL CHURCHES FOR APPROXIMATELY TWENTY YEARS. WHEN THE SCHOOL CLOSED IN 1915, ONLY THE BAPTIST CONGREGATION CONTINUED TO USE THE BUILDING, AND DID SO UNTIL 1999, WHEN THE ORIGINAL SCHOOL BUILDING WAS REMOVED FROM THE SITE TO MAKE WAY FOR NEW CONSTRUCTION. CHRISTIAN OUTREACH HAS BEEN AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE CHURCH’S MINISTRY SINCE THE CONGREGATION’S EARLIEST DAYS. THE CHURCH CONTINUES TODAY TO COLLECT CLOTHING AND TOYS FOR NEEDY CHILDREN AND SUPPORT A LOCAL FOOD PANTRY AND A LOCAL CLINIC. ELM GROVE BAPTIST CHURCH HAS ALSO BEEN PROUD TO SERVE AS A PLACE OF TRAINING FOR MINISTERIAL STUDENTS THROUGHOUT ITS EXISTENCE. 175 YEARS OF TEXAS INDEPENDENCE * 1836-2011