First Baptist Church of Jaspser

Duane's take

Here's the story as the official marker tells it, and I'm just along for the ride. Now settle in, because this one starts on Christmas Eve, practically, and it doesn't quit. On December 23, 1855, fifteen souls gathered together and organized what would become the First Baptist Church of Jasper.

Fifteen members. Not a crowd, not by Texas standards, but there's something about a small beginning that history seems to like. The whole thing was directed by a Presbytery, a governing body of ministers, four men by name: John Bean, William Blackshear, E.

S. Phelps, and W. W.

Maund. Four ministers steering one new fellowship into the world. And then, two days later, Christmas Day, the Rev.

Blackshear stepped up and conducted the very first service. The church was two days old and already holding Christmas. Another one of those organizing ministers, the Rev.

Maund, became the initial pastor. Same man who helped call it into being, now charged with keeping it alive. Then 1856 rolls around, and the church elects its first deacon.

His name was Fabian Adams, a local merchant, a man with roots in the community. Adams also served as a trustee for the Jasper Collegiate Institute, which tells you something about the kind of people this congregation was drawing in. The fellowship worshiped right here, at this very site, in a small wooden sanctuary.

And the marker notes, plainly and without flinching, that the fellowship included slaves as early as 1859. That fact belongs in the telling. The 1870s brought a decline in membership, the kind of hard stretch that tests whether a church has staying power.

This one did. The congregation not only held on, it grew, and grew enough that by 1893, after what the marker calls a year of exceptional growth, they put up a larger wooden building right here on the same ground. That structure served the members, with some additions here and there, for decades.

The present sanctuary was completed in 1943, during the second pastorate of Dr. E. A.

Ingram. And the story doesn't stop at the walls of one building. The First Baptist Church has been instrumental in the development of area missions.

Congregations it sponsored include Adams Chapel, North Baptist, Hillcrest Mission, and Tanglewood Mission. Fifteen members on a December evening in 1855, and look what followed.

What the marker says

This church was organized on December 23, 1855, with 15 members. The establishment of the fellowship was directed by a Presbytery consisting of ministers John Bean, William Blackshear, E. S. Phelps, and W. W. Maund. The first service was conducted on Christmas Day by the Rev. Blackshear. Another church organizer, the Rev. Maund, served as the initial pastor. In 1856 the church elected the first deacon, Fabian Adams, a local merchant who served as a trustee for the Jasper Collegiate Institute. The fellowship, which included slaves as early as 1859, worshiped at this site in a small wooden sanctuary. Despite a decline in membership during the 1870s, the church later outgrew the facility. A larger wooden building was constructed here in 1893, following a year of exceptional growth for the congregation. With minor additions, the structure served the members until the present sanctuary was completed in 1943, during the second pastorate of Dr. E. A. Ingram. The First Baptist Church has been instrumental in the development of area missions. Congregations sponsored by the church include Adams Chapel, North Baptist, Hillcrest Mission,and Tanglewood Mission.