DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the First Baptist Church of Edgewood, right here in Van Zandt County. Now, every congregation's got an origin story, and this one's got a good one — because before there was a building, before there was a pew to sit in, there was just fifteen people and two elders with a calling. Elders E.
B. Eakin and S. E.
Reeves organized those original fifteen members in December of 1890, and from that December moment forward, this fellowship was going to find a way to gather — come what may, and come whatever roof happened to be available. And I do mean whatever roof. In those first two years, this congregation worshipped in the community schoolhouse.
They worshipped under a brush arbor — which, if you've never stood under one, is essentially a canopy of cut branches, open to whatever weather Texas felt like serving up that day. And then — and this is the part I love — they worshipped in a blacksmith shop. You want to talk about a congregation with grit?
These folks held services with the smell of iron and fire still hanging in the air. That's not complaining about the acoustics. That's faith showing up wherever there's a floor to stand on.
They kept at it through those wandering years, moving from place to place, and then in May of 1892, the First Baptist Church of Edgewood held services in its very own building for the very first time. Fifteen members and two determined elders had become something with a roof that was theirs. The marker tells us the church has continued to grow its membership over the years and has kept right on building new facilities to meet the needs of that growing congregation.
Started in a blacksmith shop. Still standing. That's Edgewood, and that's a church that earned its walls.
What the marker says
Elders E. B. Eakin and S. E. Reeves organized the original fifteen members of this congregation in December 1890. During its first two years of existence, the fellowship met for worship in several locations, including the community schoolhouse, under a brush arbor, and in a blacksmith shop. The church held services in its own building for the first time in May 1892. The First Baptist Church of Edgewood has continued to increase its membership over the years and has built new facilities to meet the needs of the growing congregation. (1995)