Emhouse Baptist Church

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Emhouse Baptist Church in Navarro County. Now settle in, because this is one of those stories that starts in one place and ends up somewhere else entirely — and I mean that literally. Back in 1893, out in the rural Kelm community, about a mile and a half west of where we're standing right now, a congregation was taking shape.

The Rev. B. N.

Price, a pioneer Baptist missionary of the area, directed the chartering of what they called the Tinkle Baptist Church. And before you raise an eyebrow at that name — it belonged to Nathan Tinkle, an early settler who donated the very land where the community schoolhouse stood. That schoolhouse was where the congregation held its first worship services.

No fancy sanctuary, just a borrowed schoolhouse on donated ground. That's how faith gets started in Texas. Before long, though, the church built its own sanctuary right there adjacent to the school site, and things were looking settled.

And then came October 1908. The members voted. They were moving.

Two years prior, a town called Emhouse had been established along the Trinity and Brazos River Valley Rail Line, and the congregation decided that's where their future was. Now here's the part that gets me — they didn't just leave that old Kelm church building behind. They relocated it.

Picked the whole thing up and brought it to the new site, where it served the congregation for thirty more years. Thirty. That building had more miles on it than most wagons in the county.

Then in 1914, a community tabernacle went up, and that structure became the scene of early revivals that, as the marker tells it, contributed greatly to the church's growth. The tabernacle stayed in use all the way into the 1940s — decades of summer heat and fervent preaching and folks packed in from the surrounding countryside. Since the earliest days of Emhouse, this church has been a leader in community service and involvement, and it has been led by a number of prominent Baptist preachers over the years.

One of them, the Rev. Dan Sharpley, grew up right here in Emhouse — and eventually carried what he learned in this community all the way to Brazil as a missionary. Started in a schoolhouse on donated land, moved across the county on a flatbed, sparked revivals under a tabernacle roof, and sent one of its own sons to the other side of the world.

The Emhouse Baptist Church, it turns out, never did stay put — and that's exactly the point.

What the marker says

Organized in the rural Kelm community (1.5 mi. W) in 1893, this congregation was chartered as the Tinkle Baptist Church under the direction of the Rev. B. N. Price, a pioneer Baptist missionary of the area. Worship services were first conducted in the community schoolhouse, which was located on land donated by early settler Nathan Tinkle. Later the church built a sanctuary adjacent to the school site. In October 1908 the members voted to move the church to Emhouse, which had been established two years earlier along the Trinity & Brazos River Valley Rail Line. The Kelm church building was relocated at this site and served the congregation for 30 more years. A community tabernacle, built in 1914 and in use until the 1940s, was the scene of early revivals which contributed greatly to the church's growth. The Emhouse Baptist Church has played a significant role in the development of the surrounding area. Since the earliest days of Emhouse, it has been a leader in community service and involvement. In addition, the church has been led by a number of prominent Baptist preachers, including the Rev. Dan Sharpley, who grew up here and later served as a missionary in Brazil.