DUANE
Duane's take
Here's the story as the official marker tells it — my job is just to do it justice. Now, Houston in 1838 wasn't much more than a muddy dream somebody had along the bayou. But a small group of Baptists was already meeting, quietly, informally, the way folks do when they're holding something together with willpower and not much else.
Then in February of 1841, the Reverend James Huckins came to town. And things got official. On April 10, 1841, Huckins organized a congregation.
Sixteen charter members. Sixteen. You could seat them all at a couple of tables, and yet what they were building would one day count its membership in the tens of thousands.
But we're getting ahead of ourselves. For a few years the church found its footing, and then in 1845 a noted Texas minister by the name of William E. Tryon became the Houston church's first resident pastor.
Tryon was a man with a clear eye and a full plate. He had two priorities right out of the gate: get a building up, and grow the membership. He accomplished both.
The new structure went up at the corner of Travis Street and Texas Avenue, dedicated in May of 1847. Membership increased dramatically. By any measure, it was a season of genuine flourishing.
And then yellow fever took William E. Tryon. Same year — 1847.
That's the kind of thing that stops a story cold. A man plants something, watches it bloom, and doesn't live to see the summer end. The marker doesn't editorialize on it much.
It doesn't have to. The congregation carried on. Dr.
Rufus C. Burleson stepped into the role of pastor, and under his leadership membership grew to 140 by 1852. Then came the Civil War and Reconstruction, and the rolls thinned the way they do when the world outside the church doors is tearing itself apart.
Membership slid back down, but it hit 100 again in 1871. They were still there. Still holding.
The 1870s brought a new kind of work — the church started a mission in nearby Richmond. Then in the 1890s came two mission chapels north of Buffalo Bayou and the Tuam Mission in South Houston. One by one, those missions took root and became self-supporting Baptist churches of their own.
The seed planted with sixteen people was now planting seeds of its own. In 1907, First Baptist joined with other churches to establish two institutions that would matter to the whole city: the Star of Hope Mission and the Baptist Sanitarium — later known as Baptist Memorial Hospital. Ministry had grown well past Sunday mornings.
The Depression came. World War II came. The congregation persevered.
That word — persevered — is doing a lot of honest work in this story. Then in the early 1970s, something shifted. Growth — unprecedented growth, the marker calls it — took hold.
And on April 3, 1977, the congregation relocated to its current site from 1010 Lamar in downtown Houston. By the year 2000, membership stood at 21,000. Twenty-one thousand people, tracing a line back to sixteen souls in a city that was barely a city yet.
And beyond the numbers, the church became known for what it did with its size — music and pageantry, programs for the deaf, community service, and support to smaller churches. The kind of work that doesn't always make headlines, but holds a lot of things together. Sixteen members in 1841.
Twenty-one thousand by 2000. Some stories, you just have to get out of the way and let them tell themselves.
What the marker says
In February 1841, the Rev. James Huckins visited the fledgling city of Houston, where a small group of Baptists had been meeting informally since 1838. Under Huckins' leadership, a congregation was organized on April 10, 1841, with 16 charter members. Noted Texas minister William E. Tryon became the Houston church's first resident pastor in 1845. His first concerns were the erection of a church building and increasing the membership. The new structure, located at the corner of Travis Street and Texas Avenue, was dedicated in May 1847, and membership increased dramatically. Pastor Tryon succumbed to yellow fever in 1847. Under the leadership of his successor, Dr. Rufus C. Burleson, membership grew to 140 by 1852. Membership declined during the Civil War and Reconstruction, reaching 100 again in 1871. The church began a mission in nearby Richmond in the 1870s, followed by two mission chapels north of Buffalo Bayou and Tuam Mission in South Houston in the 1890s. These and other missions sponsored by the First Baptist Church became self-supporting Baptist churches. In 1907 the church joined with others in establishing the Star of Hope Mission and the Baptist Sanitarium (later Baptist Memorial Hospital). The congregation persevered during the Depression and World War II. The congregation experienced unprecedented growth in the early 1970s, and on April 3, 1977, relocated to this site from 1010 Lamar in downtown Houston. Membership increased to 21,000 by the year 2000. In addition to evangelism, discipleship and missions, the church became known for other specialized ministries, including music and pageantry, programs for the deaf, community service and support to smaller churches. (2001)