First Baptist Church Bridgeport

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about First Baptist Church Bridgeport, right there in Wise County. Now, 1882 is a good place to start. Wise County was still finding its feet, and out in Old Town Bridgeport, a man named Rev.

Alphus Hawkins and another named W. W. Cannon stood up with twenty-three charter members and said, we are starting a church.

Twenty-five people, more or less, and a whole lot of faith. For a while, they met in the schoolhouse. Then another site.

Then yet another. If you have ever tried to keep a congregation together while moving from building to building, you know that is not a small thing. But they kept at it, and by 1895 they had something to show for all that patience: their very own one-room building, right here on this spot.

Now, Bridgeport was not standing still either. Coal mining came in. Cattle ranching was doing what cattle ranching does in Texas.

The railroad arrived and brought all the noise and commerce that railroads tend to bring. The town grew, and the church grew with it. By 1920, First Baptist had three hundred members.

Three hundred. From twenty-five people meeting wherever they could find room. And that year, 1920, the Women's Missionary Union did something worth remembering.

They sponsored a woman named Blanche Groves, the church's first missionary, and they sent her all the way to China. That is not a small ambition for a congregation in Bridgeport, Texas. That is a big-sky kind of vision.

The building kept pace with the people. A new sanctuary went up in 1925. An education building followed in 1947.

Then a worship center in 1959, a family life center in 1980, and a new education building in the year 2000. One room in 1895, and look at what kept rising from that ground. Along the way, First Baptist reached out beyond its own walls and sponsored three missions: Cates Street Baptist Church, El Calvario Bautista, and First Baptist of Runaway Bay.

Three congregations that might not exist without the one that started with twenty-five people in Old Town Bridgeport. This marker was put up in 2011, the hundred and seventy-fifth year of Texas independence. And the story of this church, well, it turns out to be one of those stories that is very much still going.

What the marker says

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH BRIDGEPORT IN 1882, REV. ALPHUS HAWKINS, W. W. CANNON AND 23 CHARTER MEMBERS STARTED THIS CHURCH IN OLD TOWN BRIDGEPORT. AFTER MEETING IN THE SCHOOLHOUSE AND TWO OTHER SITES, THE CHURCH MOVED TO THEIR OWN ONE-ROOM BUILDING HERE IN 1895. COAL MINING, CATTLE RANCHING AND THE RAILROAD BROUGHT GROWTH. BY 1920 THE CHURCH HAD 300 MEMBERS AND THE WOMEN’S MISSIONARY UNION SPONSORED BLANCHE GROVES AS THE CHURCH’S FIRST MISSIONARY TO CHINA. CAMPUS ADDITIONS INCLUDED A NEW SANCTUARY (1925), EDUCATION BUILDING (1947), WORSHIP CENTER (1959), FAMILY LIFE CENTER (1980) AND NEW EDUCATION BUILDING (2000). FIRST BAPTIST HAS SPONSORED THREE MISSIONS (CATES ST. BAPTIST CHURCH, EL CALVARIO BAUTISTA AND FIRST BAPTIST OF RUNAWAY BAY) AND HAS SUPPORTED MANY OTHER AREA ENDEAVORS. 175 YEARS OF TEXAS INDEPENDENCE * 1836-2011