DUANE
Duane's take
The marker tells it this way, and I'm just the voice carrying it down the road. Now settle in, because this one goes back to Christmas Eve. December 24, 1882.
Two Baptist ministers — H.M. Burroughs and W.A. Mason, a missionary from the Baptist General Convention — sat down with fourteen local Baptists in Bowie, Texas, and organized themselves a church.
Burroughs became its first pastor. And to mark the occasion, that little congregation lifted their voices and sang 'Am I a Soldier of the Cross?' on Christmas Eve. Not a bad way to start a church.
Now, you'd think after that send-off, smooth sailing. But fire had other plans for this congregation — and patience, it turns out, was going to be one of their defining virtues. From 1883 to 1902, the congregation worshipped in the masonic lodge building over at the corner of Pecan and Lindsay Streets.
That building also did duty as Rosser's school on weekdays. The congregation eventually purchased it from the masons in 1886. Then 1902 rolled around, and the building burned.
They rebuilt on the very same site. That new building burned in 1909. They built again.
That structure lasted until 1943 — when the newly renovated building burned. Three fires. Three buildings.
And still, on Easter Sunday in April 1944, the congregation consecrated a brand new white brick sanctuary. There is something almost defiant about that timing — Easter Sunday — like they were making a theological point with the calendar itself. The church kept growing.
In 1966, an education building was added to the campus. The congregation worshipped in that 1944 church until 1981, when a new sanctuary was dedicated on the corner of Tarrant and Lindsay Streets. At that point, the 1944 sanctuary became the fellowship hall — still standing, still useful, just wearing a different hat.
Along the way, some characters worth knowing. The third pastor, J.C. Ward, was preaching at as many as seventeen churches on the north Texas circuit.
Seventeen. Sometimes his compensation came not in cash but in eggs, chickens, and flour. A man spreading the word across that much territory for that kind of pay — you get a sense of what this congregation valued.
And in the early twentieth century, church member and author Fannie C. Potter put pen to paper and wrote histories of both Montague County and the church itself. She made sure the story got kept.
From its very beginning, this congregation kept its eyes on missionary work. That focus, the marker says, engendered several other local Baptist churches and community missions — including the multi-denominational Bowie mission. Three fires couldn't stop them.
A circuit preacher paid in chickens couldn't slow them down. On Christmas Eve, 1882, fourteen people and two ministers sang a hymn and made a promise. Turns out, they meant it.
What the marker says
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF BOWIE On December 24, 1882, Baptist ministers H.M. Burroughs and W.A. Mason, a missionary from the Baptist General Convention, met with fourteen local Baptists to organize the first Baptist Church at Bowie with Burroughs as its first pastor. To celebrate their new church, the congregation sang "Am I a Soldier of the Cross?" From 1883 to 1902, the congregation worshipped in the masonic lodge building, also known as Rosser's school for its weekday usage, located at the corner of Pecan and Lindsay Streets. Purchased from the masons in 1886, that building burned in 1902. The congregation rebuilt on the site, only to see the new building burn in 1909. The next church building lasted until 1943 when the newly renovated structure burned. The congregation consecrated a new white brick sanctuary on Easter Sunday in April 1944. In 1966, the church campus expanded to include an education building. Members worshipped in the 1944 church until 1981 when a new sanctuary on the corner of Tarrant and Lindsay Streets was dedicated. At that time the 1944 sanctuary became the fellowship hall. The third church pastor, J.C. Ward, preached at as many as seventeen churches in the north Texas circuit, sometimes being paid in eggs, chickens, and flour. In the early twentieth century, church member and author Fannie C. Potter wrote histories of both Montague County and the church. From its inception, the church's congregation focused on missionary work, a focus that engendered several other local Baptist churches and community missions, including the multi-denominational Bowie mission. (2014)