First Baptist Church of Irving

Duane's take

Now, what I'm about to tell you comes straight from the official marker — this is Duane's telling of it, nothing more and nothing less. When you're building a town from scratch, you've got decisions to make. Roads, lots, storefronts.

But two developers named Julius Otto Schulze and Otis Brown, when they founded Irving in 1903, made one decision right up front that said something about what kind of town they intended this to be. Before the dust had even settled, they set aside parcels of land — dedicated parcels — for the Baptist, Church of Christ, and Catholic denominations. That's not an afterthought.

That's a statement. The town grew steadily, the way good towns do, and by January of 1904, the Irving Baptist Church was organized. Now, the man who led that founding effort was no ordinary preacher.

The Rev. Dr. J.

B. Gambrell guided the congregation into existence, and when the doors opened — metaphorically speaking, because they didn't even have doors yet — eighteen charter members walked through them. Eighteen souls to start.

The Rev. W. J.

Shipman was called as First Pastor, and he did what frontier ministers did: he made do. He came once a month to conduct worship services. And those services?

They wandered a little, the way young congregations do. A local schoolhouse one time, rented quarters another, and for a stretch, a temporary tabernacle right on this very site. They were rooted in spirit long before they were rooted in brick.

That permanent structure finally came together in 1911. Took a few years of worshiping wherever they could, but they got there. Then in 1920, something else changed.

The Rev. W. T.

Newsom became the congregation's first full-time pastor. First. Full-time.

Means everything up to that point, the preaching, the pastoring, the holding it all together — that was done on a part-time basis. Let that sink in for a moment. By 1940, the name itself was updated — Irving Baptist Church became the First Baptist Church of Irving.

A small shift in words, but it told you where this congregation stood in the life of that city. Then came a new sanctuary, completed in 1951. And if you think that was the ceiling, think again.

By 1964, the church's facilities had grown to fill an entire city block. One. City.

Block. What started with eighteen charter members gathering in a schoolhouse had become something that anchored a city. Worship, education, missionary work, outreach — the programs grew right alongside Irving itself.

From a borrowed room in 1904 to a full city block by 1964. Julius Otto Schulze and Otis Brown set that land aside at the very founding. Turns out, they knew exactly what they were doing.

What the marker says

When the town of Irving was founded in 1903, developers Julius Otto Schulze and Otis Brown set aside parcels of land for the Baptist, Church of Christ, and Catholic denominations. The new town grew steadily, and by January 1904 the Irving Baptist Church was organized. Led by the Rev. Dr. J. B. Gambrell, the congregation began with eighteen charter members. The Rev. W. J. Shipman was called as First Pastor, and he conducted worship services once a month. Early worship services were held in a local schoolhouse, in rented quarters, and in a temporary tabernacle on this site until a permanent structure was completed in 1911. The Rev. W. T. Newsom became the congregation's first full-time pastor in 1920. The name was changed from Irving Baptist Church to First Baptist Church of Irving in 1940. A new sanctuary was completed in 1951, and by 1964 the church's facilities had expanded to include an entire city block. The First Baptist Church has grown with the City of Irving. Since its humble beginnings in 1904, the church's services to the community have grown to include a variety of worship, educational, missionary, and outreach programs.