First Baptist Church of Honey Grove

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the First Baptist Church of Honey Grove, up in Fannin County. Now, every congregation worth its hymnal has a story, and this one starts, as so many Texas stories do, with a log schoolhouse and a handful of determined souls. November of 1847.

Pastor W. M. Pickett, a missionary from the Southern Baptist Convention Home Mission Board, organized the First Baptist Church of Honey Grove.

Nine charter members. Just nine. They gathered at a place called Allen's Chapel, borrowing space in that log schoolhouse to hold their services.

For a while, things went along fine. But sharing a schoolhouse has its complications, and sure enough, after several years a dispute broke out between the Allen's Chapel Methodists and the First Baptist Church over use of that very building. The Baptists, not the kind to stand around arguing indefinitely, went ahead and erected a new structure of their own in 1852.

Then, the very next year, something happened that might surprise you. The Baptist church split. The remaining members called themselves the Honey Grove Baptist Church, and they held services in a frame schoolhouse for several years.

So there they were, a congregation that had just built one building, now worshiping somewhere else entirely. Here is where the story takes a turn toward something genuinely remarkable. In 1856, the Baptists did not go it alone.

They sat down with the Methodists, the Cumberland Presbyterians, and the Disciples of Christ, and together those four groups built the first public building in Honey Grove. They called it the Union Church. And for twenty years, it was the only house of worship in the entire community.

Four traditions, one roof, twenty years. That is a particular kind of Texas practicality right there. When the Baptists finally acquired a building of their own in 1884, one with a seating capacity of three hundred and fifty, they inherited something from that old Union Church.

The bell. You build something together, you leave a piece of it behind. The congregation kept growing, kept building.

In 1912 they completed a brand new sanctuary, and the marker takes the time to tell you exactly what it was made of: solid brick walls, a metal roof and ceilings, a cement foundation, and cork linoleum flooring. Someone was clearly proud of those details, and honestly, they earned it. Now, tucked into this congregation's history is a chapter that reaches far beyond Honey Grove.

In 1888, a former pastor of the First Baptist Church, one John H. Boyett, joined with a man named Lewis Holland to print the Baptist News right there in Honey Grove. They distributed it to members of the faith throughout the state.

That publication turned out to be a predecessor to The Baptist Standard, which celebrated one hundred years of publication in 1988. A church newsletter printed in a small Fannin County town became a thread in something that would run across the whole state for a century. By 1997, the First Baptist Church of Honey Grove was marking one hundred and fifty-five years of worship, still carrying on the traditions of those nine original charter members, still serving the community with religious life and service programs.

Nine people in a borrowed log schoolhouse. That is where it began.

What the marker says

Originally organized in November of 1847 by Pastor W. M. Pickett, a missionary from the Southern Baptist Convention Home Mission Board, the First Baptist Church of Honey Grove met in a log schoolhouse at nearby Allen's Chapel. Nine charter members formed the church. After several years, there was a dispute between Allen's Chapel Methodists and the First Baptist Church over use of the schoolhouse. The Baptists erected a new structure in 1852. The following year the Baptist church split; remaining members called themselves Honey Grove Baptist Church. They held services in a frame schoolhouse for several years. In 1856, the Baptists, Methodists, Cumberland Presbyterians an Disciples of Christ built the first public building in Honey Grove. Called the Union Church, it was the only house of worship in the community for twenty years. When the Baptists acquired their own building, with a seating capacity of 350, in 1884, they inherited the Union Church bell. The First Baptist Church completed a new sanctuary in 1912. Solid brick walls, a metal roof and ceilings, cement foundation and cork linoleum flooring were highlights of the new building. In 1888 a former pastor of the First Baptist Church, John H. Boyett, and Lewis Holland printed the "Baptist News" in Honey Grove. Distributed to members of the faith throughout the state, the publication was a predecessor to "The Baptist Standard," which celebrated 100 years of publication in 1988. Marking 155 years of worship in 1997, the First Baptist Church of Honey Grove continues the traditions of its founders with a variety of religious life and community service programs. (1999)